An Unusual Bond
by NorseFan1
Summary: Soul Bonds are a known fact. But what if there were those with more than one name? What if they were involved with threats from aliens and from magicals hidden in our own who wanted to enslave one of their own due to her heritage? Her kind has been hunted for years, and all Cassia wants is peace. Will she and Hermione find it in New York? Read AN for warnings about pairings inside.
1. Chapter 1

**An Unusual Bond**

**A/N: I was reading the story Vacation by XxEJMxX, and a thought came to me when considering the multi way relationship it was leading up to so far. Polygamous relationships do occur in real life, it just isn't all that common, and in my other fic, Firebird, I dally with the idea of soul bonds. So, a question came to me- what if soul bonds existed and there was an example of a polygamous relationship, with several people all being the soul mates of each other? Thus, this fic was born. So, if you do not like the idea of a multi way relationship, fem harry and all that, well, this isn't the fic for you, and I suggest you go find something else unless you want to try and approach it with an open mind. You have been warned. I can take constructive criticism, but a flame stating everything is sick isn't going to be taken note of. I will ignore it. As I said, this sort of relationship happens in reality- this is a what if case involving magic and creatures. As I said earlier, inspiration (especially for the relationship) comes from XxEJMxX and Vacation. You should go check it out. **

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 1

It is a commonly known fact that each sentient being in every realm has a soul mate. All, at some point in their lives, have a name written on their wrist. Sometimes, the name is there from birth, and at others it comes later on in life. These are the names of the person's soul mate. The mark, much like a tattoo, is there from birth if a person's soul mate is born before them. If it is not there from birth, then it will appear later on, when that person's soul mate is born.

However, knowing the name of your soul mate does not mean you are going to find them. It only reminds you of the potential. And there are also cases, very rare ones, of those with more than one name on their wrists. This is their story.

* * *

Thor, Loki and Sif were the first, all three of them having the other twos names on their wrists, one on each. For an age they did not understand how Thor and Loki could have each other's names, but then their parents confided in them the truth, when they were believed to be old enough. It had unsettled Loki greatly, almost sending him over the edge. Had it not been for Sif and Thor, he would undoubtedly have done something highly regrettable. However, they knew that there was still a long way to go. Each of them felt strangely incomplete still, a feeling that had been described to them as one that came with (and mostly being ignorable) of those who had not yet found their soul mate. Yet their wrists had no other names. They knew then that there were, or would be, others who would eventually join them, and they resolved to keep an eye on what was happening.

James Buchanan Barnes was the next name to appear on their wrists, followed a few months later by Steven Grant Rogers. Little did the three know that the two grew up together, Bucky protecting Steve who had a myriad of health problems- and didn't let it stop him to his soul mate's dismay. Steve was always picking fights with those assholes who decided to bully and harass others, often leading to Bucky stepping in to protect the smaller of the pair, and then cleaning him up afterwards. Neither of them recognised the other three names on their wrists, Thor and Loki's on their right, and Sif on their left, just under the other name. Ten years after they were born, Natalia Romanova appeared on the other five's wrists. While the Asgardians wondered if she was close in location to Steven and James, Bucky and Steve wondered if she was in Russia, like her name may indicate, or somewhere else. Similarly, they also wondered if the other three were close together, and if they were near Natalia. She was only new-born, so she needed someone, and it was obvious that Loki, Thor and Sif were the oldest of the group so far- wouldn't they be best to watch out for the kid?

Natalia was a different matter. She always tried to _not_ focus on the names on her wrists. To do so could lead to her looking for them later on. That could become a weakness, and in the Red Room there was no room for weakness. Besides, if they were found, the Red Room may use them too. Or worse- use them against her. So it was best to ignore the names, she decided. Make it seem as if they meant nothing. As if they didn't exist.

When Bucky fell from the Hydra train, Steve was devastated. While they had had to hide their relationship in public, it made it no less painful to lose his soul mate. His very heart felt like it was tearing itself to pieces, dying with Bucky. The only comfort he had was that Bucky's name hadn't disappeared. It had simply lightened from jet black to grey. He didn't know what it meant; all he knew was that he had lost the most important person in the whole world to him. And anger at Hydra for his loss spurred him on in his mission. The Asgardians had been in the midst of battle when it happened, and it was noticeable that something was wrong. The lightning attacks increased, killing enemies from the oncoming army ten in each direction in front of Thor. Sif truly showed her mantle as Goddess of War, cutting through her opponents as if they had simply been standing there, unarmed. Several had the chance to raise their weapons in defence, yet it mattered not. One swift stroke of her double bladed sword destroyed whatever weapon they had and killed them quickly and efficiently. A battle cry left Loki as magic streamed out of him, doing as much damage to the oncoming army as Thor had done with his lightning. After the wave of raw energy had passed, he was a blur, sending knives into the soldiers stupid enough to continue trying to come at him. He worked his way towards the other two, keeping in mind their safety. They had lost one they did not yet know. He did not want to lose someone he already knew and loved, and was sure the other two would feel the same. Natalia felt relief at the sight of the faded name. She didn't know what it meant that his name was grey, instead of gone completely, but she was sure it meant James Buchanan Barnes was dead. It was one less person to be used against her by anyone, by any of the Red Room's enemies. It was one less weakness to worry about.

Soon after, the throbbing in their wrists alerted them that something similar had happened to Steve. Another name darkened to grey and Natalia faced the same sense of relief that he could no longer be used against her. However, faced with the fact that there was no one to take out their frustrations on this time, Sif, Thor and Loki got drunk with the Warrior's Three before the three soul mates collapsed into bed together to sleep off the alcohol, only to wake up to killer headaches the next morning. Their resolve to find Natalia had grown, but still she could not be located, and they did not know why. But they would keep looking.

Years later, new names slowly began to appear on their wrists. Clint Barton, Virginia Potts, Anthony Edward Stark, Bruce Banner and Jane Foster. Clint grew up in a circus, always wondering about the names on his wrist (especially why Natalia Romanova changed to Natasha Romanoff) until he heard about the child genius son of Howard Stark. He determined that one day; he would meet the other boy. However, as he grew up, his life became one of crime as he used his talents with a bow and the skills he picked up at the Circus, to become a thief, before he got noticed and recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. His mentor and S.O Phil Coulson helped him find a reason for his life- to protect people. And when a mission called for him to assassinate a Russian spy, he hesitated, something staying his hand, even though he had the red haired beauty in his sights. He didn't kill her. Instead, he shot her with a tranquilizer and took her in. He got one hell of a lecture of Coulson for disobeying his orders, but when he realised she had the same list on her wrists, except with one difference. Where his read Natasha Romanoff, hers read Clint Barton. She had railed against S.H.I. as well as him at first, not wanting to open herself up to weakness, and still having a lingering sense of loyalty to the Red Room, but she came to realise she owed Barton a debt. He spared her life, not even knowing it was her name on the list. Perhaps she could give S.H.I.E.L.D a shot. And Barton was good enough that he wasn't so much of a weakness. He was lethal himself. So she became his partner, in more ways than one.

Virginia 'Pepper' Potts, led a happy enough life, and when the chance to become the personal assistant of Tony Stark arose, she took it, having taken other similar jobs in the past. He had the ability to drive her crazy, and he didn't even really realize who she actually was for a few years, while he was on a self-destructive binge. It was only just before that fateful trip to Afghanistan that Colonel Rhodes pointed the list on her wrists out to him that Tony noticed. It had left him floundering, and she told him that they could talk about it after he got back from his trip, and gave him time to think. A part of her had always wished she hadn't done that, because the time he was missing was hell, only having his name still in jet black on her wrist telling her he was alive keeping her going through the worst of it. But then, he became Iron Man, and she had new worries to deal with concerning him, but they were getting on better- it still didn't stop her wanting to whack him over the head with a mallet at times however.

Tony Stark led a lonely childhood. His father was more interested in finding the man whose name was on Tony's wrist, instead of caring so much for Tony, but he threw himself into his own studies and experiments, trying every way possible to make his dad proud. His mother was better. She loved Tony without a shadow of a doubt- but that sense of comfort was taken from him when they died in a car crash. He began drinking and partying and he slept with many partners, not really knowing what he was looking for. Perhaps he was hoping to run into someone who happened to have the same list on their wrists as he did. Perhaps then things would be better. Until then, however, it was up to Pepper Potts, James Rhodes and Happy Hogun to try and watch him, and be there for him, even though he failed to realise that Pepper, smart, wonderful Pepper, was one of the names on his list, and she had been there all that time, waiting for him to realise, and he only realised it before _that trip_. When he was kidnapped and held hostage in Afghanistan they worried about him, he knew, and all he could think about was getting back so he could talk this through with Pepper, and try and make it work even though, with him involved, it would probably be a mess. And when he came back, they worried even more, especially when he began to construct the Iron Man persona. But nothing would dissuade him. Not even dying. And didn't that exasperate Natasha when she was trying to get him to at least be honest with Pepper? How could one of the people she and Clint were linked with have such a lack of care with his own life- especially when the other one of their weird group of names had been so sensible, and doing all she could to keep Tony on track? So she watched him for Fury and helped Coulson get Stark working on a cure, before playing her part to take out Vanko and Hammer.

Bruce was another lonely child, and again the reason was his father. This time, Bruce was less lucky than Tony. Where Tony's father had mostly ignored him, Bruce's was physically abusive. Like Tony, he threw himself into his studies to escape his father, eventually getting his doctorate, and working with Gamma Radiation to try and recreate the Super Soldier Serum. Then the accident happened. Little did he know that his name on the wrists of his soul mates flickered for a while, causing worry from all of them, until it solidified once more in jet black. But the absorbed radiation had left him permanently changed. Now he had to deal with The Other Guy making an appearance if he became too angry, and he was being chased by the army who wanted to dissect him.

Jane Foster, much like Pepper, had led a happy enough life, if a tad on the lonely side, when it came to making friends. She was nice enough, and got on well with people, but her quick, science geared brain had left her miles ahead of her peers in school, and she would often confuse her classmates with what Darcy would later come to affectionately call 'science babble'. It was only at college level where she met others who kept up with her that she was able to learn how to start to tone it down a little, and even if she didn't, at least there she had people who could keep up with her thoughts, strange as they could become. And then, New Mexico happened, and Thor had literally dropped right out of the sky and she had _hit him with her car!_ How mad was it that he had fallen into her lap like that, and brought with him tales of other worlds, introduced her to two others of their strange little bond (unique from what she could gather) and almost died protecting her from some enchantress with an obsession with him, thus regaining his powers. After that, things only began to get stranger.

One thing that they all worried about however, were the last two names. They had appeared almost fifteen years after Jane's name had appeared. Hermione Jane Granger and Cassia Lily Potter. Hermione was born the September before Cassia and what none of them knew was that the two girls met when they were eleven and on the train to school.

Until their fourth year at Hogwarts, the two girls kept the full extent of their relationship secret until Christmas of their fourth year, and the Yule Ball. As one of the champions of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Cassia had to be one of the ones to open the ball, so she asked Hermione to go with her. It was the best day of her life, she thought. The other three champions grinned at the sight of all the gaping faces as the youngest Champion entered with her Girlfriend.

Fleur had been the first to notice it. A little known fact about Veela were that they were able to see Soul Bonds. One of the shimmering gold lines connected the two girls and other ten gold threads spun out from them to others who were nowhere near them. She had kept the eight to herself, but told her fellow champions about the two girls.

"They're soul mates?" Cedric asked.

"Oui. But zey will be faced with opposition to zeir relationship."

"These beliefs are outdated. They have a bond deeper than most couples, and it should not be contested." Krum said. "I for one vill be taking their side."

"Me too," Cedric nodded.

After that, they approached the two girls.

"How do you know?" Cassia asked. She was pretty sure she wanted to go for her wand, up until they assured her they were siding with her and Hermione.

"We want you to know, we're on your side. You shouldn't have to hide to protect the idiots who cannot see you two are meant to be together," Cedric said.

"How would we tell people?" Hermione asked. "Make a banner and hang it up outside the great Hall?"

"No, but the Yule Ball is going up," he answered.

"You should go together," Fleur added.

"Ve will keep others from ruining your night," Viktor ended.

"You would?" Cassia asked, confused. "Why?"

"Everyone deserves to be 'appy. You two as well."

So, the two girls took their advice and on the Yule Ball, they walked in, arm in arm and they danced together, ignoring the stares and whispers. At the end of the night, Ron had kicked off at them, saying that it wasn't natural, and Cassie had snapped at him.

"If you think that, you can bloody well sod off and don't come back. Hermione and I have each other's names on our wrists, and nothing will change that. You aren't going to split us up because you don't like us being together."

The next morning, he came back and grovelled, saying he was sorry. Grudgingly, they gave him another chance. A few days later, Fred and George took him to one side.

"You'd better keep it together little brother. If we find you've tried to hurt either of those two girls again, you will regret it. We think it's great they've gotten together, so let it be."

Ron swallowed and nodded. He knew what the twins could and would do to him, so he didn't try anything again.

Many teachers tried to take the girls to one side and explain to them that their type of relationship just wasn't done, but neither was having any of it, explaining they had each other's names on their wrists, so nothing would persuade them to split up.

They stuck together through the best and the very worst of the years that passed, weathering the war. That was, up until Cassia's seventeenth Birthday. The week before, the Grangers came to pick her up. Dan and Emma had been very accepting of her relationship with their daughter and they all left the country for a holiday in France. It was there that the protection spell her mother had placed on her unravelled, revealing one hell of a surprise.

* * *

**A/N: This opening chapter was a lot of descriptive text, just for a starter. More conversation will be present in coming chapters and I will explain further deviations from cannon in later chapters also. **


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 2

Cassia was woken by Hermione's gasp. She had fallen asleep with her arm around the older witch's waist. She looked up through her dark hair at the brunette to see her staring at her.

"What is it Mya?" Though she herself was already noting the differences. Her sight was clearer. And Hermione seemed to be in what could be called High Definition to Cassia now, with individual hairs easily standing out to her. Her sense of smell was heightened, revealing days old scents that apparently hadn't disappeared- like the spilt lemonade.

Hermione reached out and touched something on top of her head, and it sent a shiver down Cassia's spine. "If I hadn't seen the results myself and known that it would cover you in fur, I would have thought you had swallowed Polyjuice with cat hair. As it is… well, I think you've gone through a magical inheritance. You should look in a mirror."

Cassia got out of bed and went over to the wardrobe, which held a mirror on the front. She let out an involuntary shriek. Her ears had become cats ears, her eyes had slit shaped pupils and a black tail swished behind her. The fur on her ears and tail were long, jet black like her hair, and very soft.

There was a thumping of running feet and Emma and Dan burst into the room, before coming to a stop, seeing Cassia's new look.

"What happened?" Emma asked, a groan in her voice.

"Cassia's come into her magical inheritance… I think." Hermione said.

"Shouldn't I have woken up in pain in the middle of the night if these grew so quickly in such a short period of time?" Cassia asked.

"It's all I can think of," Hermione shrugged apologetically.

"I'm part cat!"

"If it helps, I actually think you're a Neko," Hermione suggested nervously, while playing with a lock of hair.

"Not really," Cassia moaned, sitting down on the bed, burying her face in her hands.

Hermione wrapped her arms around her. "Hey, it'll be alright. We'll figure something out."

"What's wrong with this?" Emma asked. "What's so bad about being a Neko?"

"Neko's, if caught, are enslaved in the wizarding world. Sold off to the highest bidder. I think we're going to have to stay out of there for a while, until Cassia learns to hide her new features."

"Slavery?" Dan asked, looking angry.

"Unfortunately. For now, we're safe here, but soon we're going to _have_ to disappear. They hunt Neko's. It's apparently a profitable business," she answered her dad, a look of disgust at the thought on her face. Slavery was appalling to her.

"We'll look at options later, when we've figured out how this happened," Dan said. "As you said, we'll be safe here for now."

Just then, there was a tap on the window. They all looked round to see an owl. Hermione got up and went over to the window and took the letter it held, and the owl flew off. "Cassia, it's addressed to you. I don't recognise the handwriting." She handed it over, sitting beside her.

Shakily, Cassia opened the letter and began reading aloud. She would never keep anything from Hermione, or Hermione's parents, and Hermione was the same, which is why the adults trusted the two teens to share a room.

"Dearest Cassia, if you are reading this, then we are dead, and have been for some time. This is the first letter of many that I plan to write. I will write a new one each year until the war is done and we are safe, so you will have the most current one depending on when we died if we do not survive this. Right now, you are only one year old and we celebrated your birthday two days ago," she let out a sob as she suddenly realised who this must be from. Hermione ran her hand up and down Cassia's back reassuringly.

"It's all right love. Take your time," she said, also realising.

Emma sat down on the other side of the young girl and began stroking her hair. Cassia took several deep breaths, and blinked rapidly before continuing, even though all her emotions were in overdrive, fighting for prominence inside her. "You were so happy with your first broom, a gift from Sirius. He adores you almost as much as we do. But there are things you need to know. If you are reading this, then firstly I want to wish you a Happy Seventeenth Birthday. You're an Adult now, but don't let that stop you. Merlin knows it never stopped your father or your godfather. You will no doubt have noticed some rather sudden changes. That would be the glamour wearing off to reveal your true self. I put it on you to protect you. I am not who everyone thinks I am. I am a Neko, adopted by non-magical humans, and only your father and godfather know the truth. This was to help protect both myself and you, my darling. You need to remain hidden. All I can suggest is that you look for your soul mates and hide yourself in the muggle world. If the war is still on going, then remain out of it. Do not fight in a war for people who will enslave you. I do it for James. These are his people, and your father will not let innocents suffer, so he fights. Therefore I fight. But you need not. Especially if we have been killed. There is nothing holding you to the wizarding world anymore. Live your life. Be free. And remember that we love you with all our hearts. All my love, Mummy."

Cassia broke down crying, curling into herself. This was the first time she had ever seen anything written by her mother, and it was a letter telling her she was loved and what she was.

Hermione kissed her forehead, tightening her hold on Cassia. "Hey, it's alright, we'll figure this out."

"All I ever wanted was something from one of them, and now I have a letter from her, saying she and dad both love me. And it came on my birthday." She started crying harder as her heart wrenched at the thought of her mother planning ahead, just so she could be sure Cassia would know everything about what happened, and to wish her a happy birthday when she came of age.

She cried for ten full minutes. In that time, Dan slipped out of the room and made tea while his wife and daughter did their best to comfort her, bringing four mugs back up the stairs of the villa to the room Hermione and Cassia shared. He crouched down and put the tray on the floor, before picking up a single mug.

"Here, drink this," he said. The tea helped her begin to calm down, the warm liquid soothing her as it ran down her throat, relieving it of the dryness that came as a combination of sleep and crying. "Feeling any better?" He asked when she finished. By then, Hermione and Emma had also accepted their cups of tea.

She nodded. "Thanks."

"It's no problem. You're a part of this family now too. And family always looks out for one another. That letter was as much a shock as it was anything else, and an emotional one. Combined with your change, well, you were bound to be shaken at the least."

"Are you ready for breakfast and presents?" Emma asked.

"You didn't need to get me anything."

"Nonsense. Like Dan said, you're a part of the family now, and family gets presents."

* * *

A few short hours later Hermione and Cassia were wandering through a small little town in Provence, that was just under an hours walk from the villa they were staying in. Cassia was wearing a pale blue vintage style dress with a fitted bodice white embroidery on the straps and the bottom of the skirt which had been a gift from the Grangers and Hermione wore a mostly pink dress that had palm leave designs all over it. Cassia had placed a glamour on herself to be able to come out to the town.

They had looked through two shops and were thinking of stopping in a small café for a cold drink when they both felt it. 'It' was a pull on their magic- one they had both felt before, moments before their first meeting. It was a tug on their hearts, as if their magic was pulling them with a lead that entered their chests. Wide eyed, both seventeen year olds exchanged a look.

"What should we do?" Cassia asked her.

"We've talked about this- it's always worth going to at least meet them."

"What if they don't want to meet us?"

"We'll deal with that when it comes to it," Hermione answered, wrapping her arm around her shoulders. Cassia was starved for affection and hid many scars. Hermione knew the only reason she wasn't covering her arms was because she could now use a glamour charm outside school. That was where her fear of rejection was stemming from. "And besides, you'll always have me. You'll never be able to get rid of me."

Cassia smiled at her, before steeling herself, visibly. Then, she headed in the direction of the pull, leading the way, her sandal clad feet lightly hitting the cobbled and uneven ground. They found themselves entering through the backdoor of an old, disused building, and quietly ascending the worn, rundown stairs until they reached a second level. They saw a man by a window, crouching down. He had long brown tangled hair and strangely enough for this weather, wore mostly leather. What was even stranger was that his left arm was metal and that he had a gun strapped to his back and also a larger one in his hands, pointing out the window.

Hermione stopped, not knowing what to do, it wasn't every day you came across an assassin, but something strange began to happen to Cassia. She froze for a moment, but it was enough for Hermione to see her glamour waver and fall and her eyes change, a gold shimmer clouding them- and then she was running, her feet strangely silent, as if being masked by magic. She leapt, graceful and bringing to mind a cat pouncing on prey and she landed on the man's back. He stood and tried to shake her off, but Cassia, or whatever had taken her over, was having none of it. She buried her hands in his hair, and the gold glow enveloped them and his head. Moments later, he fell to his knees, and she fell off him. Hermione ran over to them and rolled Cassia onto her back. She was unconscious. It had all happened so fast, Hermione had not had the chance to do anything. The man, who was wearing a mask, was panting, and supporting himself on his hands and knees. He ripped off his mask and she saw confused blue eyes staring at them.

"How did she do that?" He panted, looking between Hermione and Cassia.

"Do what?" Hermione asked incredulously. The man was very handsome, but obviously highly confused and disorientated. He held a slightly mad look in his eyes.

"Bring back my memories and get rid of the mind control?"

"Her magic acted up. I don't know more than that," Hermione said.

Suddenly he grabbed her wrist and was examining it, and then the other. Then he grabbed Cassie's wrists.

Hermione began to register the burning in her right wrist and looked down. Once again, a grey name was darkening, becoming black. It had happened for Steven Grant Rogers two years previously. Now it was happening for James Buchanan Barnes. And it was happening to Cassia's wrist too.

Now, the man was pulling up the sleeve covering his non-metal arm, revealing all the names on her and Cassia's wrist all on one arm, minus James Buchanan Barns and with Hermione's and Cassia's.

"How long have you been following me?"

"We weren't. We were following our magic, to you, from five minutes ago. I take it you're James then?"

He nodded and swallowed. "Or at least, I was. I'm not so sure now."

"Help me get her back to our villa. You can figure it out there."

He nodded again and picked Cassia up. Cassia was still unconscious. Hermione applied a glamour to her again. "So you're both witches?" He had to focus on other things, or everything could become so messed up in his head that he was useless. He couldn't afford to be useless now- not if he could be found by his handlers, and the girls found with him.

"Yeah. We'll explain everything later. Come on."

"We should stick to the ally's. I want to remain unseen. We can't afford to be followed."

"Alright then. But it's about an hour's walk from the town to the Villa."

"Just do what I say, and we'll be fine."

There was a sense of urgency in his voice. He had been about to shoot someone, and said he was under mind control. That meant there was someone behind this. Meaning someone could be watching for him. And with a metal arm, James Barnes was quite distinctive. After finding out where the villa was, he led the way, leading her on a path that stuck to the shadows during a sunny day, and stuck to well covered country roads. It took far longer to get back to the villa, but he seemed determined to keep hidden, his eyes darting all over the place, looking for threats. They surprised Hermione's mum when they came through a small gap in the hedge opposite the pool.

"What's going on? What happened to Cassia? Who is he?" Emma asked, hurrying over to them.

"Mum, this is James Barnes. Cassia kind of freed him from some sort of mind control. Her magic just took over."

"Bring her inside. We'll lay her down on the sofa."

Hermione followed, leading James to the Villa. He put Cassia down on the sofa, and looked at Hermione who had immediately begun fussing over the black haired girl. "Is there anything I can do?" He asked.

"Not unless you happen to have a pepper up potion?" Hermione asked.

"No."

"Then all we can do is sit down and wait for her to wake up. Hopefully it won't take long."

"I'll go get us drinks," Emma said, hurrying into the kitchen, collecting glasses and a pitcher of ice cold lemonade.

"So, are you from England?" James asked Hermione, obviously unsure of what to say. He was confused now there was nothing to do, and it was obvious she didn't want to talk about anything serious with Cassia being unconscious still.

"Yes we are. How'd you guess?"

"You're accent. I knew someone once… I think I did…" he was frowning.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked.

"Everything's quite jumbled. I'm trying to decide what was real and what wasn't," he looked at his non-metal arm to the list. "At least Steve's still alive."

"Two years ago, his name went from grey to black. Today, yours did the same."

"Grey?"

"Those two names have been grey ever since Hermione was born, Cassia's too I'd bet," Emma told him. "We never figured out why."

"Who is Steve, by the way? His name sounds familiar," Hermione said. "And I'm guessing you know him."

James couldn't help the smile. Even though everything else in his head was madness at the moment, Steve stood out from the mess. "Yeah, I did. We grew up together. At the time Steve was the smallest guy around but he never liked bullies, so he'd always pick a fight with them. He was so stubborn, but never able to actually take them. I had to step in to save him from getting beat up too heavily. Honestly, going out with Steve was like taking a Chihuahua with anger management issues for a walk in a dog park with only Alsatians. But then I got sent off to war. Steve couldn't get into the army due to multiple health issues, but it didn't stop him trying. I got captured and was being tested on. The next time I saw Steve, he was taller than me and full of muscle. Apparently, they'd used this super soldier serum on him."

"He was Captain America?" Emma guessed.

"Yep. That he was."

"That would explain how his name returned to black two years ago. It was when he was thawed out of the ice!" Hermione said.

"Thawed out of the ice?" That had Bucky confused. And angry. If someone had hurt Steve…

"He took a plane with a bomb meant for New York down and landed it in the ice. It was only two years ago that the plane, and he himself, were found. They thawed him out."

"But he's alright?" Bucky asked.

"He seems it whenever someone manages to film him," Emma reassured.

"Well, that's good."

* * *

"Steve, stop pacing, it's not going to do anything," Natasha told him.

"But his name is black again. Bucky's alive!"

"We noticed. Fretting isn't going to do anything, though," Pepper added. The super soldier was pacing a hole in the floor.

"We'll find him. I have JARVIS running searches for him. He'll turn up. Or, hell, he may come to us. I mean, it's no secret that you're here." Tony supplied, trying to get Steve to calm down- the pacing was getting rather annoying.

"It's just that I know what it's like to wake up decades in the future and not have a clue of what's going on. I don't want that for Bucky."

"We will find him, Steve, we even have Heimdal looking for him," Sif assured. "He cannot go unseen for long."

Steve sat down heavily, letting out a sigh and gazing out the window. "Perhaps he's found the other two. He'd probably be alright then."

* * *

**A/N: So, what do you think? Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 3

"So, let me get this straight, you're a soldier from World War Two who almost died, got turned into a conditioned weapon, who killed JFK, and now you remember everything and are free of the mind control because my magic went haywire and possessed me?" Cassia asked.

"That pretty much sums me up, yes." Bucky nodded (he'd asked them to call him that).

Her face was completely serious as she turned to face Hermione. "Can we keep him?"

Hermione just burst out laughing and she buried her head in her knees. Bucky looked a bit bemused, but a smile tugged at his lips. Used to the newly turned seventeen year old by now, Emma just smiled.

Just then, Dan came back from his walk. He stopped short at seeing Bucky, and his whole body tensed. Both recognition and fear flashed through his eyes as he slipped from mild mannered dentist to ex SAS in a heartbeat. He was obviously ready to fight.

"Dan, relax, he's alright," Emma said, standing up to reassure him.

"Do you know who that is?"

"Yes, he's James Barnes. His name is on Hermione's and Cassia's wrists," she answered.

Bucky stood slowly. "Sir, I know you recognise me as the Winter Soldier, but before that, I was a Howling Commando and one of the other names on my wrist is Steve Rogers, Captain America. He'll vouch for me. And Hermione can tell you that Cassia did something to me earlier with magic that stopped me from taking out a target- that will vouch for me as well, because I have been under heavy conditioning the past few decades. I mean no harm to you, or your family."

"I saw you take out a whole unit of men. Good men. Just to get to a prisoner they were transporting."

"Then you know how well I fight."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it's a promise. All those skills will never be used against your family. I'll use them to help protect your family. I am who I was before the Red Room in Russia got hold of me." Bucky pulled up his sleeve, revealing the list of names, all of them on his one normal arm. "Before, anyone who interrupted me in a mission would have gotten killed for it. No matter who they were. The list on my wrist meant nothing to me. Now, I wouldn't dare put a gun to their heads. Believe me- the last thing I want is to hurt anyone here. If I wanted any of you dead, you wouldn't know I was there until you died."

Some of the tension left Dan's shoulders. "If I think you're going to go back on your word, I don't care how good you are, I will kill you."

"Understood," Bucky answered.

"Good." Dan walked past him, still weary. "So tell me how you ended up bringing home the Winter Soldier when you only went out for a walk."

Hermione was the one to tell the story, as she had been the one to see all of it. It seemed that, the moment her magic took over, Cassia blanked out, so she remembered nothing after reaching the top of the stairs.

"Well, I suppose there's less of a threat from the wizarding world now." Dan said.

"Why would they be a threat?" Bucky asked, sitting back down. "I thought Hermione and Cassia were magical."

"We are," Cassia said, "but apparently, I'm what's known as a Neko. And by wizarding law, I should be enslaved if not killed. We only found out what I was today though."

His fists tightened. These two were two of the other soul mates he and Steve shared. Plus, Cassia had freed him from the grip the conditioning kept on his mind. He'd be damned if anything happened to either of them. Plans started to move through his mind, various places to set up safe houses to protect them at and the routes to get there. Places where they wouldn't be found.

"We were planning on heading for New York soon, and disappearing from the Wizarding World all together," Cassia told him.

"Why New York?"

"Well, that's where the Avengers are." Hermione answered.

"I'm afraid all I know about the current times are what I needed for missions," Bucky explained. "Whoever these Avengers are, I don't know them."

"Well, they're a group of superheroes. Captain America's one of them, but we were going because so is Tony Stark, and his past assistant, who now runs his company, Virginia Potts. We knew it was his name we had on our wrists. Until today, we didn't know Steve was Captain America."

"How good are they? I know Steve's talents, and if Tony Stark is Howard Stark's son, then he's going to be a genius. What else is there?"

"Well, like you said, he's a genius. He built a flying suit of armour with multiple weapons," Dan answered. "There's also the Hulk who gets stronger the more angry you make him, a couple of spies who are apparently very good at what they do, and also a couple of Norse Gods."

"This may sound a little odd, but what if the Norse Gods on the team are actually three of our other soul mates?" Hermione asked.

"So definitely three, potentially six others already there, plus those with other skill sets. It's as good a place as any I suppose. I was going to suggest somewhere else and contacting Steve from there, but that sounds good enough," Bucky said. It would be easy enough to get onto a ship to America. Far harder to do so on a plane. For him at least. Cassia, Hermione, Dan and Emma could use their passports and board as normal passengers. He would have to sneak on- but it didn't matter. He'd done it before. "You'll need to book rooms on a ship to America; it'll be the best way to travel. I'll have to sneak on board."

"You think they'll come soon?" Dan asked.

"I've encountered wizards before, but never those who search for Neko's. It's possible. But then again, they may wait until news of one drifts there way, then it could take ages. We shouldn't risk it."

"I'll start looking then," Emma said, heading for the laptop.

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault," Cassia said.

"No, it isn't. It's those backwards idiot wizards." Hermione said. "You can't help what you are. They have a superiority complex so big I'm surprised the whole muggle world hasn't already noticed them."

"She's right. This is not your fault," Bucky agreed.

"But-"

She was cut off as he stood up and threw her over his left shoulder. "I'm not putting you down until you acknowledge that this isn't your fault, because you can't help being a Neko, and you didn't put those laws into place."

"Put me down!"

"Not until you say it!"

"Fine it's not my fault!"

Bucky huffed and then put her down. "I will make you believe it." He said. "Are they the only threats?"

"Unfortunately, no. There's also Voldemort who's the darkest wizard of all time and Dumbledore, who's determined that Cassia is meant to defeat Voldemort. And he hasn't even given her any proper training." Hermione sighed.

"The whole lot of them are nuts," Dan said. "I've said all along you should have stuck to a non-magic school."

"I know you did dad!" She moaned. "But I managed to keep up with my non-magical studies."

"You did?" Cassia asked.

"We'll help you catch up. You're going to need it if we're going to be living in the non-magical world." Hermione said.

"I've found one leaving in two days. We'll have to get two cabins though."

"Book it. If there are other threats then we can't afford to wait around. The sooner we're at somewhere secure, the better."

It was then that they could all see the soldier in him. He seemed to have gotten over the confusion now that he had something to do and focus on. However, that was only a temporary solution. When there was little to do, he would be focusing on sorting out the mess that were his memories.

"Well, this is definitely one of your more interesting birthdays." Hermione said.

"Yeah. First I learn I'm not even human, and then I learn one of our soul mates is a brainwashed assassin and we're basically going to be on the run from the whole wizarding world. Did I miss anything?"

"At least two of our other soul mates are on the Avengers," Hermione pointed out.

"Ah yes. That." She nodded.

"I've also got us rooms in a New York Hotel. The Waldorf Astoria, even one for you Bucky," Emma said, ignoring the sarcasm. She was used to it by now. Dan went over to the cupboard and pulled out the spare blankets and pillows. He pushed them into Bucky's arms.

"The bed in the spare room's not made up, but that's where you'll be sleeping. Stay out of the girl's room."

"Yes Sir." Bucky nodded. Dan Granger would be no real threat to him, he knew, but this was the father of one of his soul mates. He wasn't about to piss him off.

"Come on, I'll show you the guest room," Cassia said.

* * *

"Sir, I believe I have found something," JARVIS said suddenly, startling the whole group.

"What would that be JARVIS?"

"While conducting scans for Mr Barnes, his name came up. At a booking for a room at the Waldorf Astoria hotel here in New York. It could have been a coincidence, but he is with four others, two of which are Hermione Jean Granger and Cassia Lily Potter. Their birth dates match up to when their names appeared on your wrist sir."

"Who are the other two?" Loki asked.

"Daniel and Emma Granger, parents to Miss Granger."

"When will they be in the hotel, JARVIS?"

"In seven days' time sir. Three standard rooms. I ran further checks and saw the Grangers and Miss Potter coming in by boat, but on the passenger lists, there are no records of Mr Barnes."

"But he's down as being with them for the hotel?" Steve clarified.

"They are, yes. Is there anything else you wish for me to do, Mr Stark?"

"The Waldorf Astoria's the one with that presidential suite, right?" Tony asked.

"They do have one sir, yes."

"Have them upgraded to the presidential suite then and refund the Grangers their money. I'll pay for it," Tony said. "Set something up to pay for anything else they need as well."

"Of course sir."

"When you said he may come here, I didn't actually think he actually would come here." Steve said.

"You were the one to say you hoped he found the other two," Tony replied.

"What do we do now?" Bruce asked. "I mean, we won't know for sure if they aren't some people trying to get something out of us until they turn up and we can look at the girls wrists and Steve can be sure that it is actually Bucky. We have a week until they actually turn up, and if they are who we're hoping we are, well what then?"

"Bruce's right. I mean, Hermione and Cassia are still only seventeen. Someone could blow this whole thing out of proportion, if the wrong person finds out about anything, even just the names." Clint said. This was a huge problem. The press was always looking for a scandal, and so far, the group had been able to keep the bond out of the papers and public knowledge, but if they got hold of this it would be like a piranha feeding frenzy.

"So, what do we do, have them stay in the hotel?" Jane asked.

"I am not fond of that idea," Loki said. "We have enemies. It is again a case of the wrong person finding out the bond between us and them."

"Loki is right, they would be safer here. They are young; the chances are that they will not have much experience in defence. And not enough to make a difference against the kind of threats we have faced." Thor said.

"So, we have rooms prepared for them here and offer them to stay here." Tony said.

"Could bringing them straight here overwhelm them?" Sif asked.

"She has a point. They probably know about Steve, Pepper and Tony, but I doubt they know about the rest of us," Natasha said, finally speaking up. "If we give them a few days in the hotel, introducing ourselves over time to them, and let them think over the offer of staying here, then it'll be easier for them."

"Not to mention the elder Grangers. They may not take too kindly to us barging into the girls' lives." Pepper pointed out.

Tony grabbed his tablet and began looking for something.

"What are you doing Tony?" Bruce asked.

"I'll tell you in a minute. It won't take me long… ooh this is weird." He said after five minutes silence.

"What?" Steve asked.

"Well, there's plenty of information on the Grangers. Both Daniel and Emma are dentists; they even have their own practice and are fairly well off and he used to be in the SAS, quite the service record. Hermione has good grades, even though she always takes her exams a few weeks late, indicating some sort of private tutors, especially seeing as when she was meant to start high school, she dropped off the school system. Cassia on the other hand is an anomaly. Her mother again dropped out of the school system at eleven, but after that, there are absolutely no records of her, until she's listed on Cassia's birth certificate. Cassia's father is only recorded on her birth certificate, there's nothing else on him. Cassia's next records are at age five when she starts attending school a bit late. However, she's listed as an orphan living with her mother's sister and brother in law- there are records for both of them their entire lives. Again though, Cassia drops out of all school lists at age eleven, without a single exam result after she was ten, just like her mother. There's plenty for her cousin, and he seems quite the idiot if the grades are anything to go by, but none for her. No records or anything. Not until she applied for a passport this summer."

"A few questions- one, you're stalking them? And two, how did you get all that so quickly." Bruce asked.

"In reverse order- I'm just that good, and I'm merely fact checking. Trying to verify they aren't some well put together fake before they arrive. However, no one trying to fool us would put together fake files for them with such glaring holes. They'd probably guess we'd run a check, so would want them to be as air tight as possible. I'm leaning towards this being real."

"Apart from one thing, you could find nothing on Cassia's father? Nothing at all?" Natasha asked.

"Nope. All it says is his name is James Charlus Potter. That could be any number of James Potters. He could even have been lying about his name." Tony answered.

"Is this lack of information problematic?" Thor asked.

"It could be. It all depends…" Clint replied.

"On what?"

"Why there's a lack of information."

* * *

**A/N: Please review! What do you think? **


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 4

They caught a taxi to get them from the port to the hotel. Bucky had managed to sneak on board the ship and then Cassia and Hermione had managed to get him into their cabin. The two girls had shared a bed, and he took the other one. Dan had been none too happy with the sleeping arrangements but they had promised nothing would happen. Besides, Bucky seemed more inclined to remain on alert. He was far too on guard to do anything Dan feared he would do. While he was more than eager to talk with them both, there were times he stopped mid-sentence because he thought a threat was nearby (all of which turned out to be false). He had told them many stories of his time before becoming the winter soldier. Most of them involved him pulling Steve out of fights of some kind. He always seemed to be picking fights with those who were bigger and stronger than him, swearing he could take them, and even using a bin lid as a shield once. Unfortunately, this was all pre-serum, so there was always next to no chance of Steve winning without someone intervening on his side, and that was always Bucky.

They in turn told him small stories about their time in school. They wanted to wait to tell him the more serious ones. If they were going to be meeting up with others who would probably also want to know, they wanted to tell those particular stories as few times as possible. Thankfully, Bucky understood, and only asked for a brief outline of Voldemort and Dumbledore, and their various supporters. This wasn't the type of story that got easier with each retelling. War was hard- and it was something they shouldn't have experienced at that age.

"Voldemort's a straight out psycho, and so are most of his followers. They love to torture and kill and cause fear. They want to take over the world, thinking they're better than everyone else. Dumbledore also thinks he's the best person walking the earth, better than anyone else, and everyone should just do as he says without question. While they are both nuts, they are also clever and powerful. Their followers' intelligence varies, but you should always be careful, just in case." Hermione said.

"Yeah, you'd think Bellatrix LeStrange would be an idiot, but she's as sharp as one of your knives. The insanity and intelligence combined is what makes her so deadly. Trust me," Cassia added.

Bucky nodded at that. He had a load of weapons on him, and had somehow also gotten knew clothes that made him less conspicuous, which included a canvas jacket that covered his metal arm and gloves. Hermione and Cassia suspected he had stolen them. And they wouldn't be wrong either. But they let it go- he had been in need of new clothes. The combat outfit he'd been wearing when they met was in his duffle bag. He had also started calling Hermione doll and Cassia kitten. Both were still trying to convince him to stop calling them by those names; however what didn't help was that Cassia had taken to copying him and calling Hermione doll, and in retaliation, Hermione now called Cassia kitten. Cassia was afraid the name was probably going to stick. The new features didn't help, and Bucky seemed to want to _pet_ her, like she actually was a cat, scratching between her ears and even running his hand over her tail. (She would never admit that it was actually nice, but they could both see how she liked it, by the way her eyes started to slip closed and the fact that Cassia literally _purred_. Something that annoyed the dark haired seventeen year old to no end.)

On the last night of the cruise, Bucky began having nightmares. They woke him up and in turn, woke the girls up. Without even speaking, they both got up and slipped into the other small bed with him. It was a tight squeeze, but they managed, and having them there seemed to calm him down some. The cold of the metal of Bucky's arm penetrated the thin shirt Cassia wore but she ignored it. The warmth of his body more than made up for it.

In the morning, the four who were officially passengers disembarked as normal, while Bucky snuck off the ship. He seemed rather skilled at going unnoticed and he met up with them where the taxis were lined up, waiting to pick up new arrivals. The cab driver was eager to take them; obviously he sensed a large cash sum or something like that. Cassia shook the thought out of her head- that was the type of thing she'd hear Vernon Dursley mutter angrily about when he had to, for some reason, catch a taxi, and she did not want to end up like him.

"Where to?" The driver asked.

"The Waldorf Astoria, please," Emma told him.

"Of course," he nodded.

"So, are you here for a holiday?" The driver asked on the way.

"Yes, but with the intention of looking to buy," Emma replied. She seemed to be the only one really willing to talk, but that didn't faze either of them, and she kept up the conversation well enough.

Bucky and Dan insisted on carrying the luggage. "Honestly, we can carry our stuff." Cassia said.

"I guess I'm just an old fashioned gentleman in some respects, kitten." He winked at her, and in that moment, she saw a flash of lightness in his eyes, a sign of the man he had once been, fun loving and almost careless. It was a sign that he would be able to recover from the trauma left behind by the conditioning and his memories from his time as the Winter Soldier, doing missions for the Red Room. She saw a glimpse of the Bucky Barnes that Pre-Serum Steve Rogers must have seen, before the reality of war set in, and began changing him, even before he was turned into a weapon. And didn't she know plenty about people wanting to use her as a weapon?

She smiled slightly. "Alright then. But don't expect it to stop here. You'll be carrying our shopping bags soon if you're not careful, army boy," Cassia warned, with a wink. If it helped him even slightly by focusing on something he would have offered before to a woman he was with, then who was she to say no? He had allowed some of his old self to come back then, for that moment, and she was sure it was a good thing to encourage. Though, she would insist on carrying her fair share of bags if he ever did come shopping with them.

Emma led the way to the reception desk after the cab driver had been paid and both girls stared openly at the opulence that oozed from the lobby. The chandelier that hung from the ceiling alone was enough to draw awed looks from the girls but add it to the marble floors, the high, strong pillars and the opulent furniture, it floored the two who had never been anywhere so rich looking. The inside of Hogwarts wasn't even this grand. Though, it was a medieval castle. While the outside of it was an impressive and beautiful sight, the interior held nothing on the comfortable luxuriousness of this.

Bucky ended up steering the two of them after Hermione's parents, where Emma had just asked for the keys for their rooms and handed over her I.D. The woman at the computer was searching for them. Suddenly, a look of surprise flooded over her features. "It seems that Mr Tony Stark has had your reservations changed, Ma'am. You've been put in the presidential suite, and everything's been paid for by him. He's even arranged for you and your daughters to have quite a few of the spa treatments at our spa. A tab has been opened for you by him for room service and in all our restaurants and our full fitness centre and pool are both also open to all of you."

This left all of them speechless. The woman saw the shock and smiled. "You must be something pretty important. He's never done this before that I know of. I'll have Benjamin take you up to your suite." She called a man in a smart uniform over. He and another guy took their bags and he also took the card keys off the woman, and they led the way to the elevators, and hit a button. Benjamin unlocked the door to the suite they were in, and then held it open for them, putting the bags he was carrying on the floor, and handing the cards to Dan, who tipped him.

"Thank you," Dan nodded.

"No problem sir." Benjamin nodded, as his friend also received a tip. The two left the group.

"What the hell just happened?" Bucky asked.

"I think Tony Stark knows we're here and that you three have his name on your wrists," Dan said. "But how?"

"He's really skilled with computers, right? Well, he was bound to notice when Bucky's name on _his_ wrist went from grey to black. What if he started looking for him, and well, you booking using all our names set off some sort of alert, Mum? Three of our names are bound to set warning lights flashing."

"I hope you're right," Bucky said. "I'd hate to know he tracked us down in another way, and other less desirable people aren't far behind either."

"We'll be fine," Emma reassured, patting his right arm gently. "Between you and Dan, and your skills with weapons, and Hermione and Cassia's magic, I'm sure we can handle any threat that comes our way. And I'm not half bad at swinging something heavy at around head height either."

Bucky nodded, and the five of them set about to looking around the suite. They were in an entrance hall for lack of a better word. On the table at the centre was a vase, filled with flowers. The living room area was in creams and the sofas were the comfiest thing Cassia had ever been on- the Dursley's would kill to be in a place like this, she knew. Luxury was everywhere- it all screamed money and wealth, and it was the type of thing her relatives had been trying to imitate, and been failing at, now she saw this it was obvious. There were books on the shelves, and a T.V. There was also a dining room and a wet bar. The bathrooms were large and in black and cream and held huge mirrors. Cassia found herself amending her theory about the sofas when she threw herself; face first, onto the bed in hers and Hermione's room. Hermione joined her on the bed, and lay slightly over her back, kissing the back of her neck, before Cassia turned round, so she was lying on her back, looking up at the beautiful, clever brunette witch who was her best friend and the girl she had been in love with since she was eleven.

"If this is being on the run, then I don't really mind it. I mean, what else could a girl want? Luxury, at least two of her soul mates living with her, and two caring adults who are like family- this is the best thing I've had going for me in ages. You have to admit it Hermione, we're on the run, yet also living the high life."

Hermione smiled down at her and kissed her on the lips. "You're right- for once."

"Oi!" She rolled, pinning Hermione to the bed, and tickling her, knowing the older witch was as ticklish as she was.

"Hey doll, kitten, you ready for something to eat?"

Cassia let up on tickling Hermione so they could look to see Bucky lounging in the doorway, smirking. He'd taken note of Hermione's 'weakness' and filed it away for later use when it was needed. Now all he needed to do was discover if Cassia had the same weakness. It would be good to use against them if they were being stubborn.

"I'm famished. What about you, Mya?"

"I could eat," Hermione nodded.

"Well, from what I know, Stark's rich. How about we take him up on his generosity and order room service?" Bucky asked.

Cassia shifted uncomfortably. "We could go out and eat in a café."

Hermione gently nudged her. "You need to learn to accept gifts, Cassi," Bucky saw the brief flicker of a frown cross Hermione's face and took into account Cassia's reaction to that and various other things. She seemed to understand his nightmares more than any other who never really suffered from past horrors should. He knew nothing about her family except for that she was an orphan that had grown up with her Aunt and Uncle who, when mentioned, caused a scowl from the others. Cassia herself always closed up about the subject and tried to change topics, never too subtly either. Add to that the fact that she was uncomfortable with people getting her things, like this, and he was starting to see a picture being painted that was igniting an angry flame within him that made him want to use all his training and know how as an assassin to hunt down her relatives, and take them out in the most painful of manors. But that would have to wait until he knew the full story.

"Come on, it can't hurt. And if he's anything like his old man, he'll be the sort to throw money away on anything. Something like this won't matter to him money wise. In fact, this may be one of the only things he'll actually put much thought into paying for. Let the man foot the bill, kitten," Bucky added, managing not to wince at the thought of Howard. He remembered what he'd done. He couldn't believe he'd killed a friend.

"Alright then, but I want to eat out as much as possible otherwise."

"We can try and find a few small places," Hermione assured.

They headed back to the living room and looked through the menu, before ordering the room service. When it was brought up, they ate in the dining room, before heading back into the living room, and Dan switched on the TV. "Is there anything you want to watch?"

"See if you can find Doctor Who dad! That's brilliant!" Hermione said. "I don't get to see nearly enough of it."

"What's Doctor Who?" Bucky asked.

"A TV show that is awesome. Hermione got me hooked last summer."

"It's about a Time Travelling alien who travels in a 1960's Police Telephone box which is bigger on the inside. He's the last of his kind and normally travels with a human companion. He normally ends up saving some planet or another, most regularly earth, in the past, present and the future," Hermione explained, adding on from Cassia's explanation, her tone bristling with excitement.

Hermione was in luck and they got to introduce Bucky to Doctor Who. It was the Eccleston episode with the Dalek and Van Staten. He really enjoyed it. As another episode began, there was a knock on the front door.

"We didn't order anything else, did we?" Emma asked, standing.

"No, I don't think so," Dan said. He and Bucky exchanged a look, and Dan got up and followed his wife to the door, and Bucky remained with the girls.

All three of them, while appearing to be watching the TV, were in fact, trying to listen in to what was going on out in the entrance hall. The door was opened, and then there was Emma's exclamation of surprise.

"Mr Stark!"

"Hey, we just came to see how everyone was. Thought we'd check in." The voice was one Cassia had never heard before, but the tug on her magic, centred around her heart was there once again, this time twice as strong. Did this mean he'd brought another of their soul mates with him?

"Why don't you both come in?" Emma asked.

They were about to find out.

* * *

**A/N: What do you think? Please Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 5

Bucky was on his feet the moment the two men came into the living room and heading for the very tall blonde man whose eyes had focused on him almost instantly. He was taller than Bucky, and his hair was in a military cut. He had blue eyes which lit up when they saw Bucky and his smile was huge, his whole posture becoming straighter than it already was, showing his full height. Bucky made Cassia feel small, but this guy would dwarf her. Yet again, that wasn't saying much for the petite Neko. And she would curse the Dursley's for that fact. She would never be tall because of her stunted growth.

"Bucky!" He all but bounded forward and caught the shorter man in a tight hug.

"Heya Steve. The serum is still permanent, eh?" He replied, his grip tightening around Steve's shoulders, just before they pulled back.

"Pretty much, yeah." Steve nodded. "What happened, Buck? I thought you were dead."

"I was as good as. But some Russian's found me. They patched me up, made a few adjustments and then wiped my mind and conditioned me to follow orders. Cassia broke that a few days ago," He looked back and smiled at her, she smiled back, leaning into Hermione. "We decided to come find you, seeing as you're both quite public, it was easy enough."

Concern flooded Steve's features. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine. My arm won't ever be the same though."

"What do you mean?"

Bucky pulled off the gloves and jacket, revealing the metal arm. A sigh came from beside Steve. "Only we could end up with the damn _Winter Soldier_ as a part of our group," this was from a man who wasn't much taller than Hermione. He had short dark brown hair, a goatee beard and moustache and brown eyes that scanned everything very quickly and very critically, much like when Hermione was working on a problem silently. He was wearing a t-shirt which advertised a band Hermione vaguely recognised and levy jeans. This was obviously Tony Stark. "Remind me to warn Natasha not to try and kill him. She may think he's here on a mission or something." He held his hand out to Bucky. "Tony Stark."

"Bucky Barnes." He shook the offered hand, before motioning to the two girls. "This is Hermione Granger and Cassia Potter."

Hermione stood, pulling Cassia with her, trying not to roll her eyes. Cassia was great when you put her in a crisis situation, but put her in a situation like this, and her 'Gryffindor nerve' left her. So, Hermione kept an arm round Cassia's waist, stopping her from running and hiding in her room. If the glamour was off at this moment, she thought, she would probably see the cat ears flat to Cassia's head and her tail swishing in agitation- that was, until she felt said appendage wrap around her waist, adding to the hug from Cassia.

"Great to finally meet you all," he grinned.

"Yeah, and thanks for helping Bucky," Steve nodded, smiling at them.

Cassia shrugged. "It honestly wasn't me. I was just along for the ride really."

"Her magic took over," Hermione explained. "It was actually quite worrying. I had no idea what was happening. She just jumped him."

Tony threw back his head and hooted in laughter while Cassia blushed and glared. "Not like _that_," she said, nudging Hermione. "Next time don't make it sound so weird."

"Promise," Hermione said, making an X over her heart. She couldn't resist teasing the younger girl. It was rather fun at times like this. Cassia stuck her tongue out at her.

"Girls," Dan warned.

The group sat down on the chairs and sofa in the living room. "So, how did you get here?" Tony asked Bucky. "You weren't on the ship passenger lists."

"Told you," Hermione said to Bucky.

"I slipped onto the ship easily enough. Got off the same way. Once we were here, there were no problems. But, there was a hell of a shock when we found out you knew we were coming and had upgraded our rooms."

"It was nothing. It's always best to stay in comfort," Tony shrugged.

"Thank you, all the same, Mr. Stark, you didn't have to." Emma said.

"Call me Tony- and yes, I did have to. The rest of us have all been waiting to find these three since we all got thrown together a few years ago."

Cassia raised an eyebrow. "The rest?"

Tony nodded. "Yeah, everyone else is at Avenger's Tower. Pepper, Thor, Loki, Sif, Natasha, Clint, Jane and Bruce. All the Avengers plus some. Brought together to stop an Asgardian Enchantress with an alien army at her back. It was all completely by chance, but yeah, you three were the last. As the Avengers were brought together, we brought in Pepper, who I had known for years, and Jane, who Thor practically landed on, when the battle was over with."

Bucky just started laughing. "I should have bloody guessed!"

Steve grinned. "Yeah well, we could barely convince Thor and Clint that it would be best to give you all a chance to get used to the idea we were all in one place."

"Basically, you have two choices, you can meet the others in other pairs over the course of a few days, or you can come by the tower when you're ready and meet everyone then," Tony said.

"I will warn you, the others probably won't wait long until they decide to come round," Steve said. "When we left Thor was looking like he was going to fly over here at the first chance he got."

"Be fair, he, Sif and Loki have been waiting centuries for the last names to turn up on their wrists, and now they have, they have to wait a while longer. I can see why he's frustrated."

"That's the first time you've ever been the voice of reason Tony."

"Hey! I can be reasonable!"

"Tell that to all the times you take it into your head to do something that will blow something up- regularly the microwave. Don't eat anything he cooks."

"Duly noted." Bucky nodded.

Tony let out a huff.

"Why _did_ you upgrade us? Not that I'm not thankful… And all the other things too?" Cassia asked.

Tony grinned. "We may not have met until now, but the three of you are three of my soul mates. Anyone can tell you that I always make sure that those I care about, even just friends are always taken care of. I have the money to do it, so I do it."

"Just go with it. He won't stop spending." Steve told them.

"Thank you and all, but it is a bit much," Dan added.

"Nah! This is nothing. None of you will ever have to worry about money again, trust me- wait, magic?" He then cottoned on to an earlier part of the conversation. "Like Loki?" This gave testament to Tony's erratic way of thinking. He would proceed with one line of conversation, then hop back to something else, or something new when he felt like it, a fact the others had quickly learnt to deal with, so they didn't remain confused half the time.

"Cassia and I are witches. Well, I am…"

"Technically, I am too, because I have a wand as well, but I lean more to the side of magical creature apparently." The shirts that both Tony and Steve were wearing showed the names on their wrists and the tug from her magic earlier couldn't be argued with, so they were obviously their soul mates. And Bucky trusted Steve, and Bucky had promised to protect her, and Tony Stark was also a superhero so, it was safe, right? If she could not trust them, then who _could_ she trust? She dropped the glamour around her cat features, showing the ears, tail and her real eyes.

Steve's jaw dropped and Tony's eyebrow's shot up. "She's cute, right?" Bucky asked, smiling, reaching over to scratch between her ears, and just managing to before she swatted away his hand.

"That's… one way to describe it. You're a cat girl huh?" Tony asked, his eyes darting between her different cat like features, taking note of the details.

"Neko's the correct term. But yeah, I am."

"It also means that the wizarding world that they were a part of is a threat to her."

"A threat, how?" Steve instantly switched to soldier mode. His muscles tensed and his eyes became far more alert. This was someone who had led men into battle.

"It's legal to enslave Neko's and sell them off to the highest bidder," Cassia said, looking down.

"Are you sure you want to stay here? It's safer at the tower- the security system's the best, I installed it myself, and then there's all of us," Tony told her. "We have rooms set up ready for all of you anyway, we have our fair share of enemies so we set it up just in case the wrong people found out about you all."

Cassia shifted uncomfortably. "I think it's a bit soon."

"Look, I'm ex- SAS, the girls are skilled with magic, and if Bucky stays, then there are his skills put on top of that. I'm sure everything will be fine," Dan added. He wasn't sure about the girls moving in with all of the people on their wrists (people who were fully grown to boot and may take advantage of them, even if they were superheroes. No matter what the girls had gone through, they were still young and had a lot to learn about being adults.) What Dan didn't know was that there was a room set up for him and Emma too. He had just assumed it was for just Hermione, Cassia and Bucky.

"He's right, Tony. If you have JARVIS keep an eye on the area, and we go on alert, things should be alright. Would they be able to track you here through your records?" Steve asked, and was then confused as Hermione and Cassia snorted and began to laugh- really hard. It was down to Emma to explain to the now confused pair.

"They still use owls to send mail. They're stuck in the medieval period."

"Well, we're good on that front. Still, I'll start protecting all the data. We don't know whose looking for Bucky here."

"What's the plan for meeting the others? We may be able to calm them down if they know what's happening," Steve asked.

"With the story the girls have to tell, and have yet to tell me-"

"We still haven't heard the full details!" Emma chimed in.

"I'd say it was best to meet everyone in one go, so we can all get a good scope for the full threat," Bucky said.

"There's more?" Tony was shocked. Every part of him was screaming at him to get the girls to the Tower where they could be better protected if they were in this much trouble. It being considered legal by magicals to enslave Cassia was just one problem, and easily combatted with a few bits of tech, keeping an eye on both Cassia and Hermione and taking out any slavers they found. More than that and protection plans needed to be pulled up several notches.

"I like that plan. Cassia?" Hermione asked, after nodding to give Tony an answer, causing him to quickly type something on his phone before putting it away.

"Yeah, just give me a couple of days to get used to the idea." She had pulled in on herself through the conversation, her arms round her knees, which were against her chest. "I've never told anyone everything. Except Hermione, who's been there for most of it."

"It'll be fine," Steve said, smiling softly. "No one's going to judge you. All we want is for you both to be safe and happy. You don't even have to tell it all at once. You can tell it bit by bit if you want- whatever makes you comfortable." His tone was soft, and genuinely caring, and it put her at ease somewhat. Hermione hugged her, knowing this was hard for Cassia on so many levels. The main reason was because of her childhood- which even she didn't know the full extent of.

Suddenly a phone went off, and Tony pulled it out of his pocket. "You alright Nat?" He paused for a minute and then sighed. "Look, tell him they'll be around in a few days… just, we don't want to rush things… put him on… Thor, no, don't come over here. They'll be at the tower in," he held up three fingers and they all nodded, "three days! Just wait three more days! It's not that long- Steve, you talk to him!" He thrust the phone at the super soldier, eyes rolling in exasperation.

Steve took the offered phone, sighing. "Thor, it's not all that much longer for you to wait- yes, I know that, but let's be reasonable here. We've talked about this, while they had probably guessed it was both me, Tony and Pepper, they didn't know it was all of us, we've only just arranged with them for them to come round in three days to meet up with the rest of us and talk. Look, I'll tell you what, ask Loki to find the local community of wizards and witches and go smite any that enslave Neko's and calm down… trust me it'll be worth it. And, you'll work out stress. Right, Put Loki on… Dog pile him if you've got too, just keep him from just dropping by. Talk to you later." With that, Steve hung up, shaking his head as he handed Tony back the phone. "That almost got out of hand."

"Did you really just tell him to go _smite_ the slavers?" Emma asked, noting her husband had started grinning at hearing that.

"Sometimes it helps if he has a target. That seemed like a viable one considering the situation." Steve sighed. "It's not always an option, but sometimes it does help. He prefers to have something to do, and it was all I could think of at the moment. The others will keep him from dropping by suddenly, even if they don't dog pile him."

"When did you find out we were coming?" Bucky asked suddenly.

"Well, the moment your name turned black, I had JARVIS, my AI, start searching for you. And, for a while now, I've had Hermione's and Cassia's names and their birthday's in the system, so when JARVIS saw your name come up in a hotel booking, paired with theirs, and their details checking out as highly likely being the same ones to be on our wrists, it was a pretty big indicator."

Bucky nodded and relaxed somewhat. There shouldn't be any unwanted followers through _that_ route.

"I'd better get back to the Tower- they may need an extra pair of hands if he takes it into his head to use Mjolnir. You staying here for a while, Steve?"

Steve nodded. "I'll see you later Tony."

Tony stood and pulled something else out of his pocket. It was a folded up envelope and placed it on the table. "If you need anything. See you in three days." He said to the girls and Bucky as he grinned before he nodded to Dan and Emma and walked out.

Steve just shook his head. "That's typical," he was looking at the white envelope.

"What's in there?" Dan asked.

"Credit cards most probably," he leant forward and pulled out five black and gold plastic cards, each with a piece of paper attached. He handed them to the right people, leaving them all stunned. "He's already done that for all of us."

"I can't accept this- it's too much!" Emma said, placing the card back on the table.

"Trust me, Ma'am, he's stubborn. Tony _will_ find a way to transfer all your accounts to that one account so you _have _to use the card. He's already done it to Natasha. She almost killed him for it. Clint just decided to accept it and moved on, buying small things with it and, every so often, buying something bigger, Bruce had no access to his account for a while, and Thor, Loki and Sif had no account on Earth, so they all used theirs. Pepper's had something like this for years, from being with him for so long, first as his PA, and then him realising who she was to him. Jane tends to use it on extra lab equipment, looking at it as extra funding for research. I tried not to use it, but I didn't have much money myself either. I just set it up with JARVIS that what SHIELD pays me; I put most of it back into Tony's account. He noticed and pushed it all back into mine- doubled."

"Paying him back won't work?" Cassia asked.

"No. Just, do what Clint does if you don't feel comfortable- something to eat every now and then, maybe something a bit more pricey. Just to show there's money going _out_ of the bank. Tony may come off as if he doesn't give a damn, but he cares, a lot. He's had very few people too care about, until recently. This is what he does to show it."

"I can understand Hermione, and Cassia and Bucky, but not Emma and myself," Dan said.

"You're Hermione's parents," Steve shrugged. "He was bound to cover you as well."

Cassia looked down to the small card. There was white paper attached to it, with her name and the PIN number. "I don't really feel comfortable accepting this," she said. "I don't really need money. My parents left me enough."

"Then use that money mostly, but get a few things every now and then with the card," Steve said, "Even if you just take money out and donate it to a charity somewhere. Tony is incredibly stubborn, and he won't stop until you take the card."

She sighed and nodded. "Alright then," Cassia said.

"You really don't like accepting things, do you?" Bucky asked.

Cassia just shrugged, still looking at the card, but her shoulders had tensed up slightly, becoming a bit more hunched. And wasn't that answer enough? This was more than just the extravagance of the gift, he knew. This was something deeper. And whoever had caused it was going to regret it.

"We don't know if it's safe for you to go to your account at Gringotts yet, even with a glamour on," Hermione said. "Until we can be sure, use the card, and keep a record of what you spend, you can always withdraw and convert the galleons to dollars that you need and then donate them to a charity or put it back into the account at a later date."

Steve and Bucky both realised what Hermione was doing. In her head, Cassia would be using her own money as she'd be putting the money back into the account at a later point, or donating it to charity. Cassia relaxed some and nodded. "Alright then."

Steve smiled at her. "Trust me; it'll stop him pestering you. Apart from when you swing by the tower, do you have any plans?"

"Not really, no." Hermione answered. Steve looked at Bucky and got a nod. They could communicate with simply a look and a gesture, much like she and Hermione could- even after all the time they had spent apart. They barely noticed Dan and Emma slip from the room, leaving them be.

"Well, we could always show you around, maybe catch a movie or something," Steve suggested.

"That sounds great, yeah," Hermione was smiling, and Cassia was relaxing. At least they had moved onto more normal topics.

"If we're going out, I'm going to stop in a shop somewhere to get a few more clothes. This is basically the only outfit I have that isn't my combat gear." Bucky said.

"Right then. Do you want to go now then?"

Cassia nodded and Hermione went to tell her parents they were heading out. She was eager to get out and see the sights as her travel options had been highly limited until this summer. The most exotic place she'd been until this summer was Diagon Alley, so being in a new place was something to take advantage of and make as many good memories as possible, just in case she ran out of chances to continue making good memories.

"Right then, I'm ready." Hermione said, coming back into the room as Cassia reapplied her glamour. They left the room and took the lift back to the lobby.

* * *

**A/N: Please review! What did you think? What would you like to see in the story in the future? That sort of thing. I have a sketched out story line in my mind, but little details, things that fill it out are vague in quite a few places, so if there's anything you'd really like to see, tell me and I'll try and fit it in so long as it fits with what I already have. **


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 6

Salem Square was in disarray. The man with the hammer and the, quite frankly terrifying, control of lightning, had landed among them and soon the whole place had been turned into an undignified avalanche of broken and burning wood, metal and glass mixed with turned up and now uneven ground. The fayre that had been going on that day had been a large one, where wizards and witches could come and view creatures before bidding for them at auction from all over the wizarding world. Now, the cages and chains were broken beyond repair, many of the slavers were dead, and the creatures were all gone, and all because of one man. It would be months before anyone could sell anything in the Square again, and far longer before the Slavers returned to the town to sell their own wares, not even knowing that the man had only turned up, not because he knew the reason he had been pointed in their direction, but because he had wanted to do something useful to pass time. Violently putting an (albeit temporary) end to the slavery going on in the wizarding world. Bad things happened when you did something a god, with some vengeful tendencies, did not like, and completely disagreed with. Unfortunately for the wizarding world, they were to experience plenty more painful lessons yet.

* * *

While Bucky picked up a few new sets of clothes (legally this time) Hermione dragged Cassia off to the women's department of the store. "What do we need to get?" Cassia asked, frowning in confusion as Hermione headed with determination deeper into the maze of clothes.

"Apart from the few things you got this summer, and your school uniform- which you won't need again- your clothes are hand me downs from Dudley- your obese male cousin. You need more clothes. Especially seeing as we're going to be meeting the others in three days."

"Then you're getting something as well."

"But I don't need-"

"I am not buying a load of things on my own!"

"Fine!"

The first thing Hermione did was find the underwear section, and they ended up picking out quite a few things from there. Then, there were the rest of the clothes. Two pairs of jeans, six t-shirts, three check shirts, two smart shirts (one green, one white) four skirts, two dresses and three pairs of shoes (trainers, boots and heels) later, Cassia was done. Hermione had also bought herself a dress and a pair of shoes to keep her girlfriend satisfied that she hadn't been buying alone. When they met up with Bucky and Steve, Bucky was wearing a new waterproof jacket and gloves and with several new bags.

"I thought you were only getting a few things," Steve said, raising an eyebrow.

"She was in desperate need of new things. Until this summer the clothes she usually wore were awful. It was going to come to this anyway, but we were here, so I thought it best to get the clothes now, and get it over with. She grumbled about it all the way through."

"You made me try everything on!"

"Better to be sure than to buy something that won't fit."

"It was a nightmare."

"Come on Kitten, we'll be late for the film if you two keep bickering," Bucky said, throwing an arm around her shoulders. None of them had really been paying attention to what was coming out in the cinema, so they decided to catch the next film showing- something called The Hunger Games. Cassia came out of the film in a state of shock. "How could they leave it _there?_" She asked. "What's going to happen to Katniss and Peeta now?"

"Please tell me that doesn't actually happen," Bucky said. "The whole fight to the death thing."

"Not that I know of," Steve said.

"Hang on a second," Hermione said. She headed over to one of the attendants, a boy about hers and Cassia's age and talked to him for a few minutes. He was grinning widely at her as they talked, but then he said something, which she shook her head too, and he stopped smiling, and he turned away.

Hermione came back, looking shocked. "Well, that was rude."

"What happened?" Steve asked.

"After asking if the film was based on books, and getting an affirmative, he asked me out. I told him as lightly as I could, that I was already in a relationship, and he just stopped talking to me and walked away!"

Bucky rolled his shoulders. "You get any grief, let me know."

"Yeah, especially if they're persistent," Steve said. Men who pushed women into things were some of the lowest human beings around. Steve_ hated_ it. There was no denying that both Hermione and Cassia were highly attractive girls, Hermione with her lightly tanned skin and chocolate brown eyes and shoulder length curls, and Cassia with her longer dark curls, smooth pale skin and emerald green eyes. They would draw a lot of attention- and there was the potential that not all of it would be good, even though good looks did not equate to someone else's right to harass them. If they _were_ harassed, he and Bucky would step in to help keep them safe.

"Thanks, but I know a couple of things to keep off unwanted advances. I don't think they'd be too concerned with flirting if they had a flock of birds pecking at their face," Hermione said.

Cassia snorted. "Ron certainly didn't like it," She wrapped her arms around Hermione's waist as they began walking. She saw the guy Hermione had approached and caught his eye and mouthed 'mine'. His eyes widened and he went bright red, the colour of a ripe tomato. No one else noticed and Cassia was content to move on with the other three, not letting go of Hermione. Bucky and Steve looked at each other.

These two could be scary if they wanted to be. Birds?

They stopped in a small café for food and began discussing the film. "I can't believe I cried when Rue died. I thought I'd never cry in a film," Cassia said.

"I was surprised too," Hermione said, pulling Cassia into her. "It's alright though, plenty of people cry in scenes like that."

"I liked that Thresh kid, when he got the girl from District Two." Bucky said.

"I quite liked the red headed girl- she was clever about the way she worked." Steve said. "She was quick thinking."

"I liked Katniss the best," Cassia said.

Hermione's smile told Steve and Bucky that, even though Cassia had left out an explanation, she knew why Cassia liked the main character. Though, they both had to admit, they were fond of the protagonist as well.

"I definitely want to find out what's going to happen to her."

"Well, like I said, it's a book series, the first is the Hunger Games, then it's Catching Fire, and finally, Mockingjay. We could find it if you like."

"That would be great," Cassia smiled at her.

"What about you, doll? Who was your favourite?" Bucky asked her.

"Gale was. Definitely. He obviously wanted to do something about the situation, but was at a loss for what to do. I think, if given a chance, he would find some way to help his people."

"I felt sorry for Gale," Cassia said. "It must have been hard for him, caring for Katniss like that and then, not only having to watch her in the fight to the death, but also watch her be with another guy."

After food, they wandered over to the nearest bookshop and Steve beat Cassia to the books, and then to the till, before handing her the box set of the three books. He and Bucky had talked about her reactions to being given things and Bucky's observations which were leading him to suspect a very unhappy childhood. They resolved to try and get her used to being given gifts. One of them would take Hermione to one side later and bring her in on the plan. Steve was the one to get the opportunity when Bucky pulled Cassia off to look in a shop window, asking if any of what was in the display (crystal balls, fairies, dragons etc.) were actually in the wizarding world. While he may have had a few missions in the magical world, it had never required him to know the ins and outs of the magical world. Only of the routines of his targets.

"Well, there are dragons, fairies and crystal balls- which are about as useless as they are here by the way, there's no use to divination- and a whole host of magical creatures. I can give you a book on them, if you'd like."

"I'd love to hear about them. I don't mind reading, but couldn't you tell me stories about them, kitten? You've been a witch for years."

"Alright then," she nodded, smiling up at him.

"I'm going to guess," Steve said quietly to Hermione, "that Cassia hasn't had the best of childhoods. Now, I don't want you to tell me, without her permission, that would betray her trust, but what you can tell me, is if she's reluctant to accept gifts due to that reason?"

"Somewhere in that area, yeah," Hermione nodded. This was nothing big, and Cassia wouldn't blame her for confirming Steve's guess, she knew.

"We guessed that would be the reason, but it's up to her to tell us when she's comfortable. However, what we can do, is try and get her used to the idea that she has more people willing to protect her and be there for her, and get her comfortable with accepting gifts too."

"Are you suggesting we buy her things?"

"Yeah. It's not as if we're short of money."

"She has very few things that mean a lot of her. I think it would best if you do that, but only every so often with things you think she'll really like- she'll appreciate it more. Cassia likes things she can attach sentimental value to."

Steve smiled and nodded. So many people simply wanted just the most up to date thing in whatever area they were interested in. Both Cassia and Hermione seemed to value the sentiment behind how they got something. As they approached the other two he wondered how they had come across the life lesson to learn that.

"I don't know much about the Fae, except that they exist, but I know a few things about dragons. We had to sneak a newly hatched one out of the cabin of Hagrid, the grounds keeper, in first year. He was obsessed with them and named his dragon Norbert. He was going to raise it there. In the wood cabin. Norbert was a Norwegian Ridgeback, one of several types of dragons."

"What parts of the myths about them are true?" Bucky asked.

"Well, they do fly and breathe fire, and they'll kill you pretty quick if you get too close."

"No damsel's in distress then?" He joked.

"Not where Cassia's concerned. She thought she could outfly one," Hermione said.

"I managed it didn't I? Besides, it was the only plan I had to get out of there alive."

This proved to be the wrong thing to say, as both Bucky and Steve tensed up. "Get out of there alive?" Bucky asked.

"Well, I was kind of in a tournament and one of the three tasks was to get a golden egg from a nesting mother dragon. I didn't know nearly enough magic, so I summoned my broom and outflew it to get the egg," She shrugged. "It worked."

"I get the feeling that's a part of a long story," Steve said.

"Yeah it kind of is. It's all sort of tied up in one big mess," Cassia shook her head. "Normality is not in my vocabulary apparently."

"No, it really isn't," Hermione said, smiling at her. "But that's often a good thing- have you seen how cute you are without the glamour?"

"Ha-ha." Cassia rolled her eyes.

Suddenly Steve's phone beeped and he pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the text. "I have to go- needed for a meeting," He looked up apologetically.

"Go on Steve, I'll keep these two out of trouble," Bucky said, smiling at him.

"And we'll keep him out of trouble," Hermione added.

"Thanks," Steve grinned. "He can get some pretty stupid ideas at times."

"Hey!" Bucky protested. "I wasn't the one who kept lying on my application form for the army!"

"And look where it got me! The food's much better now!"

"Go on you idiot, before you're late." Bucky muttered, shaking his head, trying to hide the smile and failing.

"It's been great seeing you again Buck I missed you. I'm glad you're alright," Steve said, pulling the shorter man into a tight bear hug, expressing the rest of what he couldn't say in that gesture.

Bucky returned the hug, reluctant to let go, knowing the dangers of the world, but also knowing Steve could take care of himself now- he didn't need Bucky to protect him anymore. "You too, Steve. I'll see you soon, yeah?"

"Yeah," Steve nodded, before lowering his voice. "Keep them safe Buck. I get the feeling they've been through too much already."

Bucky pulled back and nodded, his eyes solemn. He agreed wholeheartedly with Steve, and anyone trying to get to the girls would have to go through the Winter Soldier. "Take care, Steve."

"You too, Bucky."

Steve went one way, and Bucky, Hermione and Cassia went the other, neither of them asking what had been said so quietly that neither of them had heard. Whatever it was, it was between Bucky and Steve. Cassia took hold of Bucky's hand as they headed away from where Steve was heading. He had been noticeably different with the blonde man around, as if Steve had taken a weight from Bucky's shoulders, just by being there. Already, she could see that weight reappearing, as if it was being lowered back on as they put more distance between themselves and Steve. She couldn't imagine what it would be like, to lose Hermione, not even remember her, for so long, only doing as she was ordered, doing things that would probably make people baulk, and then having her memories returned suddenly, and then having to wait to see Hermione, and only seeing her for a short period. Cassia would hate it, so she resolved to be there for Bucky. Hermione saw Cassia's hero complex kick in, ready to help Bucky in any way she could. She simply took Cassia's free hand. Cassia would help Bucky for now, and she would help Cassia- both of them needed support. And she would make sure they got it.

* * *

**A/N: What did you think? Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter: 7

"We have a serious problem," Fury growled, to the gathered Avengers.

"Don't tell me," Tony drawled, "The Winter Soldier is in New York City."

"I see you've hacked our systems again," Fury growled, causing both Natasha and Clint to sit up straighter and tense. If he really was around, then this could be very serious.

"Why's he here? Do we have any idea what his mission is? His target?" Natasha asked. Most wouldn't see it, but those around the table could see the flash of panic in her eyes.

"Who is this Winter Soldier?" Thor asked. Anyone who made Natasha panic was a big enough threat to be concerned about in his book.

"Let's just calm down here," Steve said, trying to start an explanation.

"You missed the time he was around, Steve," Clint said. "The Soldier has been known to take down whole teams of highly trained operatives, without even a scratch."

"Most of his kills never even knew he was there, before he killed them," Natasha added in. "I saw him do it- after scouting the targets for him."

Steve turned to Tony. "I thought you were going to tell them."

"I was waiting for you."

"Tell us what?" Sif asked.

"If this isn't about the problem at hand-" Fury began.

"It is," Steve cut off. "Look, I know this sounds like a problem, but it's not. He's broken out of the mind control he was under while working for the Red Room."

"How do you know about that?" Natasha asked.

"Because he told me all about it. And Cassia was the one to break him out of it. Bucky was the Winter Soldier. There's no need to worry about anything. He's not a threat to anyone, unless someone attacks him or Hermione and Cassia or Dan and Emma."

Natasha was usually very collected and in control of her responses. To see her jaw drop was a very rare thing indeed, even for the Avengers, who she allowed herself to be more open around. "What?"

"We found out today when we went round. He had the metal arm and all," Tony said.

"How did I never know? He saw the names and he never said a thing!"

"He was being controlled at the time," Steve said. "The people in charge of the Red Room probably knew all about the names too, so they would have taken steps to hide it from you."

She massaged her forehead. "This is insane."

"Can you lot be normal for once? Do you know how much of a headache this is going to cause me? It's going to be a paperwork nightmare explaining that SHIELD went onto red alert for this guy and he turns out to be a non-threat," Fury said. "And let's not forget the Security Council. How the hell am I going to be able to explain you can trust his word? There are very few who know the truth about your bond. The majority of them are in this room. Hell, the council doesn't even know- so tell me how I'm supposed to tell them that you vetted him Cap?"

"Tell them that he's James Barnes and that we were friends growing up and that he was one of the Howling Commandoes. Tell them I know him well enough to tell if he's lying or telling the truth. I'm probably the only one who can, barring Natasha, who could probably tell between him now and him under control."

"Fine, and if they don't like it I'll tell them that Romanoff is meeting him to verify your story. Like you said, she should be able to tell the difference."

"Don't doubt that," Natasha responded dryly.

Fury turned and headed out of the room, muttering under his breath- something about needing a holiday- or retirement. "You could have warned me, Tony," Natasha said.

"I didn't know SHIELD would pick up on him, or that Fury would call us for a meeting. I thought it may have been best coming from Capsicle, since he's the one who knew him best."

"Seeing as he's not a threat we have to worry about, but actually very much on our side, I take it we do not have to worry so much about putting up some sort of guard to watch the hotel?" Loki asked.

"No, Bucky said he'd watch Cassia and Hermione. He still remembers, and can utilise, all his skills from his time as the Winter Soldier. That is so long as he doesn't upset Hermione's father who threatened to kill him, if he makes a wrong move."

"Ah crap, we have to worry about a protective father? What about Cassia's Uncle- is he going to be in the same boat?" Clint asked. "Because I think I might be able to deal with one, but not two."

Steve's features darkened. "I'm not sure he will be," he said through gritted teeth.

"Why, what happened?" Sif asked.

"I'm not one hundred percent certain, but let's just say I don't think she gets on with her family and leave it at that. It could have been someone else, or it could have been them, but I really don't think her uncle will be siding with Daniel Granger."

This had all of their undivided attention. He'd left no room for them to think that perhaps she hadn't been hurt- that she had was undoubted- it was just by who. They just needed to know the story.

* * *

It was later that night and Bucky and Dan were the only ones still awake in the suite. Bucky was pretending to be interested in the TV, his attention was elsewhere though, as he planned every single escape route in the hotel out, and what attacks would be best to use should wizards come looking for the girls.

Suddenly the TV was turned off, and he turned to look at Dan who had the remote in his hand. "We both know you aren't watching that. And I know what you're doing. You're planning out the best route to escape through should someone attack. Let me make things easy for you- only concentrate on Hermione and Cassia. I'll concentrate on protecting myself and Emma. I know if it comes to it, you'll make the call to keep those two out of harm's way, even if it means forgetting about Emma and I. You know my background, I'm capable of protecting my wife. If someone attacks, get Hermione and Cassia out, get them to Avenger's Tower and keep them safe. We'll join you at a later point."

Bucky wanted to protest, but he couldn't. The man sitting across from him was a soldier as well, and knew how to make a call like this. So he nodded. "Alright then, I promise that, if it comes to it, I'll get Hermione and Cassia out."

"Good, because I'm trusting you with my daughters- both of them. Anything happens to them, and you're a dead man."

Bucky smiled. "I'd take a bullet to ensure they were safe. As the Winter Soldier, I very rarely did anything geared to protection detail, but I know how to transfer the skills anyway. Anyone coming after them will regret it."

"Would it be easier for you to protect them if they were in the hotel?"

"It would depend."

"On what?"

"How much the building would be a hindrance to us or to the attacker? Considering what I've been told, if the witch or wizard is a pureblood, then the hotel would be an advantage, hell, the whole non-magical world would be. Half-bloods, perhaps less so. I'd have to wait and see, but there's a great potential that whoever they were, they'd have less ability to navigate a hotel like this."

"Then I'll talk to Emma, and see what we can do."

* * *

It was really late the next morning when Cassia woke up. That was strange for her because she usually woke up far earlier than anyone else. Years of waking up practically at the crack of dawn (especially at summer) to do the chores assigned to her by her aunt had ingrained an early alarm clock into her. So to wake up at ten was really strange for her. She stretched and felt the metal of Bucky's left arm tighten reflexively around her. She opened her eyes. He was still asleep, but Hermione wasn't. She was awake and smiling softly at her and Bucky from her position tucked under his right arm. He'd had more nightmares last night, and they'd woken up, hearing his moans and whimpers, even with the wall between them now. So, they had gone into his room, and tried to ease his nightmares. They had to wake him up, but when he had realised where he was and that they were the ones who were on either side of him, and their touches were gentle, and not harsh and uncaring, he calmed. They stayed with him again that night, their presence seemingly dispelling the nightmares. Either that, or he was aware they were there subconsciously, and they happened quietly this time, without him thrashing round.

"Morning," Cassia whispered.

"Morning," Hermione replied, just as quietly.

The covers had been thrown to the bottom of the bed some point in the night, probably because of the heat, and that was probably a good thing when they heard a knock from the door that led to the room they were meant to be sleeping in. They winced. That movement woke Bucky, just before there was a knock at his door, and it opened, to show Emma, fully dressed, and raising an eyebrow at them. She noticed quickly that all three were wearing clothes, even if for Bucky it was only sweat pants.

"You have separate rooms for a reason, you know," she said, dryly.

"In our defence, I was having nightmares, and the girls were only trying to help. Nothing happened," Bucky said, catching Hermione and Cassia by surprise. They hadn't expected him to admit it so openly to Emma.

She nodded. "I'm inclined to believe that. You should all get dressed. Girls, I thought we'd use the spa facilities. I've read up on some of the treatments, and they look really good. However, I'm afraid Dan and Bucky are going to need to fend for themselves for the day."

"Fine by me, Emma." He nodded, smiling. He guessed this was what Dan had in mind to try and keep the girls in the hotel until they headed for the tower. But Bucky wasn't sure that they would be able to stay inside for three days. None of them were the type to be cooped up for so long. Bucky could manage it, and longer, so long as he had the provisions to not need to leave, especially if it was a mission. He could treat this as a mission, but the girls wouldn't appreciate it. So, he would just have to focus on keeping them safe in other ways. Cassia and Hermione went back to their room, and when they were all dressed, they went down for breakfast in one of the dining rooms, and the girls headed for the spa.

When they found out which room they were in, and after looking them up, discovering that everything there had been paid for, for each of them, the therapists were eager to help, and Hermione, Cassia and Emma were led off by three different women.

"Are you stressed often?" Kathrine asked Cassia.

"I can be, yes," Cassia answered.

"In that case, I think we'll start you with a Signature Soak. This will last about twenty minutes, and it will be in a bath. A hydro-massage is a highly effective treatment. Come on, this way." Cassia found herself led to a room that was decorated in calm pastels, and held a bathtub which looked like a mini Jacuzzi. It was heaven. The water temperature was just right and the jets hit her with water at a pace that had her relaxing her muscles- not having known they were tense in the first place. This was followed by a foot massage, and then a back massage, before she had what Kathrine called a radiance facial, which lasted fifty minutes in itself. She was then treated to a 'Salt Glow' which was meant to help exfoliate her skin. Finally, she was given a manicure, where her previously uneven nails were trimmed and shaped, before being painted in a clear polish which dried to leave nothing but a shine on the nails. She went back to the reception area of the spa and was greeted by Emma and Hermione, already done and looking very relaxed. Cassia put her arm round Hermione's waist. "Did you enjoy?"

"It was great! One of the treatments I had was where they put heated stones on my back! My goodness it was amazing!" Hermione gushed, her eyes bright, drawing a laugh from Cassia.

"The first thing she did was put me in a bath! Do you think she was trying to tell me something?" Cassia joked.

The three left the spa exchanging experiences, but headed back on Emma's insistence that they get an appointment for a makeup lesson. They finally reached the room, and headed in to find Bucky, but no Dan. Bucky wasn't alone though, as Steve was there with him. They both looked up as they entered, cutting off all conversation, and gathering up the papers on the table.

"You look great!" Bucky said, grinning. "The spa must have been a good idea!"

"Remind me to thank Tony when I see him," Hermione said. "It was wonderful."

"So, are you going back if you enjoyed it?"

"Hermione and Cassia have another appointment tomorrow for the makeup lesson they give."

"I don't see why we need it," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"Because I heard about your attempts, and in the end your dorm mates gave up and did your make up for you, for that ball. It's time you learnt to do it for yourselves."

Both Bucky and Steve were trying not to laugh. "I'm glad you had fun," Steve said, focusing on not laughing. "And I'll pass on your thanks to Tony."  
"How did the meeting go yesterday, or can you not talk about it?" Cassia asked.

"It was fine. Some people just freaked out in the higher ups because they thought the Winter Soldier had been set loose in America. Tony and I assured them there was no need to worry. Everything's going to be fine."

"Well, that's good to know," Hermione said, smiling as she sat down.

"I also came over to say that a car will be here at midday in two days, to pick you up to come to the tower. The driver, Happy, will knock on the door. He used to be Tony's bodyguard, but he's now head of security at the Tower and still drives for Tony as well when needed."

"We could catch a cab," Bucky said.

"I did tell him you'd say that, but he insisted- and Happy won't listen to anyone but Tony and Pepper, and Pepper was out all day, so by the time she got back, the plan was all set."

"Midday, got it." Cassia said, nodding. That was going to be interesting.

* * *

**Please Review! I hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 8

Theirs was one of the smaller organisations of traders in valuable creatures, but it was one with a very high success rate, and one that provided a service that the others didn't. If a witch or wizard learned of a creature that was running free, and wanted that one, they could pay Muccino and his people an acceptable sum, and they would capture and train the creature to be an obedient pet for the buyer. They had the first half of the money, and the information on the creature, and now it was time to capture it. She was with a group of muggles and a muggleborn. How hard could it be?

Their customer was of the same opinion. And he was also waiting in anticipation. What better revenge on Potter than to enslave his precious daughter? And it would put the brat in her place. He had the gold, and the plan had been formed over the last few years. But now was the best time to implement it.

* * *

Cassia and Hermione had the makeup lesson, and were also now the owners of some of their own makeup. They were able to share some things, like eye shadow and eye liner, but things like foundation couldn't be shared. She had been startled to find out that, with the use of concealer and foundation, she could hide the lightning bolt scar that was known throughout the wizarding world. Cassia determined then and there that she would at least wear concealer and foundation more often, to hide the damned thing, and she could still look natural while wearing that little amount of makeup.

She was very glad she could hide it on the day they were heading for Avengers Tower. That she could keep it hidden like all her other ones was a big plus. Hermione was currently fretting over what to wear, which was highly uncharacteristic of her. Her nerves were running rife, and this was the only way left to her to express them at the moment, Cassia understood. Her nerves were at the end of their tether too. But right now, they were still in the hotel room. And Hermione morphing into Lavender wasn't helping. Cassia grabbed hold of Hermione by the shoulders.

"Mya, the dress you bought the other day is lovely," She said.

Hermione's eyes shot to the wardrobe and she nodded, her breathing slowing down as she nodded. "You're right. I don't know why I panicked."

"Because you like to over analyse perhaps?" Cassia said with a smirk, before dodging Hermione's playful hit. Hermione went to the wardrobe and pulled out the blue and white skater style dress and pulled it on. Cassia pulled out a black dress that had white butterfly patterns on it and the tag that called it a Tea Dress was pulled off, and she slipped on black sandals with it, while Hermione went for beige ballet flats. Cassia brushed Hermione's hair, while using magic to tame it slightly, before tying it into a knot just below her right ear, a look which really suited Hermione. She had learnt long ago how to put hair up- there had been many times where her Aunt had wanted her to put hers up for her, so she didn't have to spend money at a hairdressers, so Cassia had learnt. Hermione was also quite good at it, after taking a few lessons from Cassia, so she switched places with the dark haired girl and began to plait it in two before working it into a bun at the back of her head, so that her hair, except for her fringe, was entirely out of her face- a rare occurrence, as Hermione had many memories of Cassia pushing her hair out of her face in lessons and tucking it behind her ears, only to need to do it again five minutes later.

"Ladies, you look beautiful," Bucky said as they entered. He owed both of them a debt. Not just for breaking him out of the conditioning, but also for being there, and supporting him through the time after. He was by no means recovered mentally from what had been done to him, but them being there meant he'd had something to focus on and use as a point of reference to begin to sort out the mess that was his mind. It would take an age, but he'd do it eventually. The girls being two of his and Steve's soul mates was simply a bonus in his mind.

"You look quite handsome yourself," Hermione responded, her eyes running over the white shirt and black jacket and dark jeans, and boots.

"Your parents ordered room service for breakfast today," he said, offering both arms to them, and each of them accepted one and walked with him to the dining room, where breakfast had reached there before them.

Cassia forced herself to focus on the food and not think on where they were going later. That was scuppered pretty quickly when Emma spoke up.

"Dan and I decided we'd go out sightseeing while you three went to the tower," she said.

Cassia and Hermione looked up. Both of them had been under the belief that Dan and Emma would be with them.

"You aren't coming?" Cassia asked.

"No, this is something you need to do for yourselves. The first meeting between all of you is important, we don't want to interfere," Emma explained. Dan's expression told them that he'd thought quite differently. He'd probably wanted to go, with a gun, to make sure nothing untoward happened there.

"It'll be fine," Bucky said. "Besides, you've already met Steve, and briefly Tony. Only eight more introductions wise."

"What if something goes wrong?" Cassia asked, shifting nervously.

"It won't, they're going to love you. How could anyone in their right minds do anything else?" Emma said, smiling at her.

"And if they don't, I can knock some sense into them- I pack quite a punch," Bucky said, raising his left arm.

Hermione took hold of Cassia's hand and squeezed. They would face this together, as they always faced things. And this time they also had Bucky on their side, and the way things had gone the last time they had spent time with him, they also had Steve.

* * *

"Well, that was odd," Tony said, entering the penthouse and frowning.

"What was, Tony?" Thor asked, his voice a low rumble. None of them wanted anything going wrong today, but all of them had a gut feeling that _something_ was going to happen.

"I'm used to fans trying to jump one of us, but in the lobby someone jumped _Happy_. The guy did it from behind, yanked some of his hair and ran away. He was gone before anyone could catch him, just slipped into the crowds outside."

"Why would anyone do that? It doesn't make sense." Bruce said, frowning, but something about it didn't sit right with him.

"Some people are just nuts I suppose," Tony shrugged.

"Something is not right about this," Loki shook his head. "Something is going to happen."

"Using Happy's hair?" Tony asked dryly.

"Perhaps. We should be on our guard. Skin, hair and blood can all be used as parts of spells, rituals and potions. This could be a problem."

"I didn't know that. Alright, so we keep watch for anything else suspicious?"

"Until we know what he wanted the hair for, yes."

"Alright then," Tony nodded.

* * *

At ten to twelve, there was a knock on the door. Bucky was the one to answer it. The man on the other side was somewhere between average and tall, and he was thick set, but it was obviously all muscle. He was wearing a dark suit and had a receding hairline. He smiled at Bucky.

"Mr. Stark sent me." He said, holding out his hand. "I'm Happy Hogun."

"Bucky Barnes," Bucky replied, shaking his offered hand. "Hermione, Cassia, our ride's here."

Emma pulled both girls into hugs, and so did Dan. "Take care, both of you," Dan said.

"And have fun," Emma added.

"We will," both girls chorused.

The four of them headed for the door, but only Cassia, Hermione and Bucky left. It seemed like a quick walk, to the sleek black car that was waiting. Happy held the door open and the three of them got in and then Happy got into the front. Then, they were heading out.

Dan and Emma were leaving the room ten minutes later, when they saw Happy heading towards them. "Is anything wrong, Mr Hogun?" Emma asked.

He stopped. "How did you know who I was?"

"You were here ten minutes ago, picking up the girls and Bucky," Dan said.

"No I wasn't," he said, frowning. "I only just got here."

"Emma, do you remember that potion Hermione told us about? Polyjuice?"

"You don't think?" Emma gasped.

"What is it? Has someone been imitating me?" Happy asked.

"There's a potion that lets you turn into someone else, so long as you have something like their hair," Emma explained.

"Shit! Someone grabbed some of mine earlier," he said, pulling out his phone and calling someone. "Mr Stark, someone else got here before me. Apparently there's a potion that can change a person to look like someone else exists- but they needed hair… it means that Mr Barnes, Miss Granger and Miss Potter are gone sir. Someone else is driving them, and I don't know where."

Dan was also pulling out his phone. Thankfully, Bucky had picked one up, and he had his number.

* * *

Bucky heard his phone going off and pulled it out of his pocket. "Dan?" He asked, after looking at the caller ID.

"Bucky, you are not with Happy Hogun, that's an imposter- a wizard using polyjuice!" Dan said. "Get out of there!"

"Oh yeah, sure I remembered to bring it, wouldn't leave without it," he said, smiling, being sure to not raise suspicion from the driver. "Don't worry Dan, I'll be sure to pass it on. See you later." He hung up and put the phone away.

Cassia and Hermione were looking at him strangely. He mouthed the word 'Polyjuice', just before the car stopped in traffic lights. He threw the door beside him open, lunged and grabbed both girls before using his legs to push the three of them back and out the open door. They landed on the road and he quickly got them to their feet, just in time to see the effects of the potion wear off and the man start to change appearance, as he yelled, pulling a wand.

"Run- Go!" He pulled them into motion and headed for the pavement, and then down, back the way they came, and into the first alley he found, knowing the wizard was in pursuit. He led them through several alleys, heading for a less populated area.

"What's going on?" Cassia asked.

"The driver's an imposter. I don't know how Dan and Emma knew, the real Happy Hogun probably turned up to the room. Here!" With his left shoulder, he rammed into what looked like a fire door. It was grey and rusty, poorly maintained and obviously not used. The force he used bent it, and they found themselves in an abandoned building. They continued their running, through that building, and into another, where the wizard finally caught up.

"I just want the creature, you two can walk away from this unscathed," the man said. He was pointing his wand right at them. Bucky moved in front of Cassia and Hermione, pulling them close behind them, before pulling off his jacket, revealing the shirt was short sleeved, showing off his metal arm. The wizard suddenly became far wearier of Bucky.

"So, you've heard of me? That's good, because both of them are under my protection. You want Cassia? You'll have to go through me. And I have taken out far more wizards at a time than just one."

Something seemed to dawn on the wizard. "Then why did you run?"

Bucky smirked. "Do you think I'd want the cops coming down on me? I don't want the attention drawn to me being here. I mean look how surprised you are."

The fear came back to the wizards eyes at that, but he steeled himself. "I have a job to do. Get out of my way."

Bucky rolled his shoulders. "Come and get her." The moment the first spell was on the wizards' lips, Bucky was in action, running at the man, his arm deflecting the curse, before he was on him, grabbing the wizards' wand arm and twisting his wrist, snapping it- loudly. The man screamed and dropped his wand, and Bucky picked him up and threw him away, stepping on and snapping the wand.

Glass shattered from the sky light above them and a red and gold suit of armour followed through, landing on the ground between the wizard and Hermione and Cassia, both of whom had their own wands out, but had been letting Bucky deal with it. He seemed more than capable.

The visor lifted and Bucky saw Stark. "You have this under control, I see."

"Yeah. What room did you upgrade us to?" He asked, wanting to verify this was actually Tony.

"The presidential suite."

"Take the girls to the Tower, I'll deal with this."

"Bucky-" Cassia tried protesting.

"I don't want you seeing this," Bucky said, and in that moment all three of them saw the Winter Soldier shine through- still there, but thinking for himself.

Just then a red headed woman ran through. Her hair was completely straight and she was wearing jeans and a leather jacket, and her whole poise screamed lethal. "Natasha," Tony greeted. "Would you show Bucky to the Tower when he's done? I'll get Cassia and Hermione there now."

"Sure," She nodded, her face not changing from impassive as she raised a hand to her ear. "Get back to the tower, we've found them."

Tony approached the two witches. "Come on, we're flying." He wrapped an arm around both of them and the visor slid shut. Cassia and Hermione both wrapped their arms round him and he took off, heading straight into the air, and manoeuvring through the hole he'd already made in the skylight, going as fast as Cassia could on her firebolt. Hermione buried her head in his chest, trying not to scream, but Cassia laughed. She had always loved flying, since the first time she had been on a broom. It sent a rush of adrenaline through her and gave her a sense of freedom she had yet to come by anywhere else.

It didn't take long for them to reach the tower this way and Tony landed on the smaller of the two landing pads, and motioned for Hermione and Cassia to go ahead of him. They realised why when they looked back to see machines efficiently removing the suit from him. He soon caught up to them. There were several pulls towards the glass doors in front of them, indicating they weren't the first back.

"Come on, I'll show you around and introduce you to the others." He said, grinning.

Suddenly, a large blonde man with bright blue eyes and wearing a strange armour all but bounded out the glass doors towards them.

"Bear hug incoming," Tony muttered.

Suddenly, he'd reached them and pulled both Cassia and Hermione into a hug that would exceed one of Hagrid's. Cassia found herself crushed between a strong arm and the metal of his chest plate as he held onto them tightly.

"I am glad to see you are both safe and it is good to finally meet you!"

"Thor, buddy, I think you're squashing them," Tony said, but he was grinning, so he obviously wasn't that concerned for them.

"Apologies," Thor said, releasing them both. "I am Thor Odinson."

"I'm Hermione Granger, this is Cassia Potter," Hermione said for the both of them.

"Hello," Cassia said, giving a slight wave, not knowing what to do after quite an enthusiastic greeting.

"It is an honour to finally meet you, my ladies." He picked up Hermione's hand and kissed it, and then repeated the gesture with Cassia.

"And you," Cassia nodded, trying to contain the blush at the gesture.

"Come on, the others are inside," Tony said, starting to sound impatient.

"What happened?" A dark haired woman asked, the moment they came though.

"It was just one wizard by the looks of it. He didn't stand a chance against Bucky, but I left him with Natasha- she'll make sure things go smoothly."

"Very well," her dark eyes turned to Cassia and Hermione and ran over them, assessing them for injuries, she seemed satisfied that they were unharmed. "I am Sif, which of you is Cassia and which is Hermione?"

"I'm Cassia, this is Hermione."

"Welcome to the Tower," she said, smiling, before gesturing to the tall man who was near her, who had black hair to his shoulders and flicked out and green eyes and pale skin. "This is Loki."

He strode over to them and did the same thing as Thor by kissing them on the back of their hands. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you both."

Next to approach them was a woman with strawberry blonde hair. "Hi, I'm Virginia, but everyone calls me Pepper. You'll get used to the strangeness around here," she said, smiling. "Jane, they're here!"

"They've found them?" this was soon followed by a petite brunette woman heading out of a corridor, and she smiled at the two teenage witches. "Hi, I'm Jane."

"Hermione, this is Cassia," Hermione said again, wondering how many times they would have to introduce themselves. This would have been far easier to do all at once.

The elevator chimed and the doors opened to reveal Steve, with his shield and two others. One of them was another blonde man who had grey blue eyes and was shorter than Steve, but taller than the other man. He also held a bow in one hand and had a quiver of arrows over his back. The last man in the elevator had curly, brown hair and brown eyes and seemed to be trying to keep himself from doing something. It was the same reserved air that Remus had, as if he was afraid to hurt someone if he lost control.

Steve relaxed upon seeing them. "Are you two alright?"

"We're fine Steve, thanks." Hermione nodded. "Just a bit shaken."

He nodded. "Bruce, Clint, these are Hermione and Cassia. Hermione, Cassia, these are Clint and Bruce." He motioned to the archer and the man who had reminded her of Remus- the reason being was probably the Hulk. Cassia wondered if the Wolfsbane potion could help him keep control, perhaps then he would relax. She'd seen how hard things had affected Remus, after all.

Both men smiled. "Good to see you. If you're hurt, I'm a doctor, I could help," Bruce said.

"We're fine, honestly," Cassia replied, though she smiled at him to show the offer was appreciated.

"Good to know, but it's a shame I didn't get to shoot anyone," Clint said, pretending to pout.

Pepper rolled her eyes as she pulled out her phone and called Happy. It was time to put Dan and Emma Granger at ease.

* * *

**A/N: What did you think?**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 9

"Who sent you?" Bucky asked. The man was a bloody mess by now. Bucky had broken a few more bones but it had been the use of the knife that had broken the man, especially as he began using it to remove nails.

"Muccino!" The man cried out. "He runs a small trading ring!"

"Trading in what?"

"Creatures! I'm one of the searchers! I find them, take them back, they train them and sell them off to the highest bidder."

"How did you know about Cassia?"

"Sometimes we get customers who know about a creature running free- and they want that one. For the right price, one of us will get sent out to catch it, and then the others will train it, and then the customer buys it, instead of it going to auction!"

"The customer's name." Bucky said, twisting the knife from where it was currently buried in the man's hand.

"SNAPE! SEVERUS SNAPE! HE'S A BRITISH POTIONS MASTER! IT'S ALL I KNOW!"

The name rung a bell, so Cassia or Hermione must've mentioned him. Bucky slit the man's throat. There was nothing else he needed from him.

"We need to tell the others," Natasha said, "More could come."

"Then let's get back," Bucky replied, wiping the blood off the knife on a patch of the man's trouser leg, trying to ignore how similar this felt to the past when he and Natasha had worked for the Red Room, telling himself that this time, it was to protect someone he cared about.

* * *

It happened the moment that Natasha and Bucky stepped out of the elevator. There was a pulse of magic, and a flash of light, and everyone in the penthouse collapsed. Hermione opened her eyes to darkness, but could hear multiple voices around her issuing a cacophony of noise, but could see no one.

"Hello?" She called out.

Her voice was lost in the confusion of voices, but one thing pierced over the din- a terrifying scream of anger and hatred, followed by a second voice, crying out in pain. That one, she recognised. "CASSIA!" Hermione stood up and began running, her feet stumbling over the uneven ground she couldn't make out that seemed to be trying to grab her ankles. She pushed on, being stubborn by nature, and eventually Cassia came into view, fighting against what looked to be a spirit made of black smoke. The whole thing radiated evil and it was trying to engulf Cassia, who was throwing spells at it. A silver stag rushed from her wand and collided with the spirit, dissipating it long enough for Hermione to reach Cassia, before it reformed, and Hermione saw something that terrified her- a trail of smoke coming from the spirit was attached to Cassia. She conjured up the memory of going to the Yule Ball with Cassia and cast the Patronus, and a silver otter bounded out, moving through the smoke and then through the spirit, again dispelling it, only for it to reform, but it was still attached to Cassia. By then, Jane and Pepper had reached them, and were trying to physically hit it, it worked, somewhat, but not as well as the spells did.

A green spell shot over their heads, dispelling the spirit for longer, and they looked behind them to see Loki. "It is the fragment of another's soul. Someone willing to fracture their soul like that is truly evil." He said, throwing out another spell as he approached them. He looked to Cassia. "Have you ever had a link to another?"

"Yes, the man who murdered my parents, Voldemort," Cassia said, horrified. She was a Horcrux?

"Then it is a fragment of his soul, most likely. When the others get here, and they will, we three will allow our magic to take over- we will break the hold it has on you Cassia, and the others will attack the fragment and force it out, where it will dissipate permanently."

"I thought we were forcing it out?" Cassia said as her stag charged the creature.

"If I am correct, then we are all unconscious. This is taking place in our minds. What we do will break the connection mentally, and the others will push it out into the physical world."

"The other voices," Hermione said.

"Would be the others, wondering what was going on. But they would have rallied themselves by now, as we have, to follow the sound of the commotion. He is not exactly quiet."

The soul piece let out another scream, expressing his rage, before a bolt of lightning hit it out of nowhere. "You will cease your attacks, creature!" Thor roared, ready to attack again.

"We need to keep him busy until the others get here!" Loki said. "It cannot be destroyed until then!"

"Why not?"

"Because Cassia, Hermione and I will be occupied using our magic to break its connection to Cassia and so we need the rest of you to attack it and force it into the mortal world so it will be forced to dissipate."

Tony was next, followed by Sif, then Natasha, Bucky, Steve, Bruce and finally Clint. Loki quickly explained what had to be done. Cassia closed her eyes and pulled on her magic, willing it to take over, and Hermione did the same, followed shortly by Loki.

Cassia began to glow purple, while Hermione began to glow red, and Loki, green. Their magic combined in Cassia and shot outwards, throwing back the spirit, with a loud SNAP! It rushed at them, but the others were waiting, and caught hold of it, dragging it away as if it was solid, Bruce changed into the Hulk, just as it began slipping away, stopping it, and lightning once again hit the spirit, dispelling it.

* * *

Cassia began to come round, feeling as if all her limbs were weighed down and as if there was someone drumming on the inside of her skull. Something warm and sticky was running down her forehead and cheek, and she reached up and felt a liquid of some sort. Opening her eyes, she saw red staining her fingertips, and it took her a moment to realise it was blood.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Bruce asked coming into her line of sight. He had a damp cloth on his hand which he held out to her. Cassia took it and put it on her forehead, welcoming the small respite it gave her.

"My head feels ready to explode," Cassia said. "How am I bleeding?"

"The soul piece must have been centred around your scar. When it was forced from you, it would have fought, and it opened up the wound." Loki said, also coming into view. "Due to the fragment, you are the last to awaken."

Cassia pushed herself up to see she had been laid out on a sofa, and the others had taken seats around the room. All were watching her anxiously, as if wondering if she was going to pass out again. But there was also something else- she could sense their minds at the edge of hers.

"What happened? I remember fighting the soul piece, but nothing else."

"The bond seems to have activated itself," Thor said. "Even though Sif and I do not use it, we have magic. Only Loki chose to act on his, however, it is still there for us. The three of us have been waiting centuries for all of us to be brought together, it was bound to do something."

"Also, your own magic would have registered the foreign soul piece and would have wanted it gone. It is possible it reached out when it sensed we were all here, and able to help get rid of it, yours combined with ours, dragged us all into a spirit realm to deal with it. That also activated the bond between us all in order to aid the removal of the taint," Loki further explained.

"Hey, does this mean that if something happens to one of us, the others could find them?" Clint asked.

"Basically, yes," Sif said. "From what I know of bonds, being on another realm will not even weaken the link."

"What about privacy?" Hermione asked.

"We should be able to build walls, but right now, we all seem to be at the edge of each other's minds, so I think that, as long as we do not push, we will not see anything you do not wish us to see," Loki said.

"Well, that's good then," Hermione said. Cassia could see she was trying to work out the mechanics of what had happened, so reached over and tugged on her arm, encouraging Hermione to come over and sit next to her, so she could lean against her.

"Is there anything leftover from your connection with the man who turned you into a Horcrux?" Loki asked.

"No," Cassia said, knowing for certain the connection was (thankfully) gone. There was nothing left of it. "How do you know that term?"

"Because it is a form of magic that was outlawed by our father many years ago," Thor said. "Anyone caught using a Horcrux is to be immediately executed. What I wish to know is, why did this wizard turn you into a Horcrux?"

"I don't think he meant to. He's been trying to kill me since I was one. He wouldn't do that if he knew. The guy is obsessed with immortality. He's possibly created six intentionally, two of which have already been destroyed. All but one were created before he first tried to kill me, and when he killed my parents, so the soul piece must have latched on then, when I got my scar," she gestured to the cloth which now hid said scar.

"Is he still trying to kill you?" Clint asked.

"As long as one of us is alive- yeah," she nodded.

"Was he the one who was impersonating Happy?" Pepper asked.

Both Hermione and Cassia burst out laughing, which confused all of them, even Bucky who knew it wasn't him. "I'm sorry," Hermione said, "But the idea of that bastard disguising himself as anyone else… he has too big an ego."

"You should hear the monologues he can come out with when he thinks he's won. They're cringe worthy," Cassia added. "The guy is a certified nut job, but he wouldn't use polyjuice. He's too high and mighty for it- and the way he views non magical people, well, he'd rather kill himself- and that's saying something."

"Could it be someone who works for him?" Sif suggested.

"No, I got answers from him," Bucky said. "He called himself a trader- in valuable creatures," his voice was a snarl. "He worked for an organization that offered the service to catch specific Neko's and whatever others are on the list, and train them for the customer."

"How did they know about Cassia? We've only known since her birthday!" Hermione said.

"He said the customer was a man named Severus Snape, I take it you know him?" Both girls had reacted to the name Natasha had given, both of them looking like they could rip apart the owner of the name.

"He's a spy, but no one's quite sure for what side. Dumbledore says his, but he could be on Voldemort's. How he knows is a mystery," Cassia answered. "But if one group knows, and found me, how long until others do?"

"I'd like to see them try anything," Bucky said.

"This government of yours sounds pretty corrupt," Tony said, "allowing slavery."

Hermione snorted. "That's one way to put it I suppose. They're stuck in the medieval period for most things. They like to stay still. But if anyone but Snape knows, and the Ministry catches wind of this, it'll be a full on man-hunt."

Thunder rumbled and the sky darkened. "Then the wizards have made their stance clear," Thor said. "They are against us."

"Whoa, cool down there, Thor, have you forgotten that Hermione is a witch too? There are bound to be others like her who are against this. Don't go on a smiting spree until we can determine where the next threat is coming from," Bruce reasoned calmly.

"Bruce is right. I'm what's classed as a 'muggleborn'- someone with magic, born to non-magical parents. I haven't grown up with the same prejudices some of the 'purebloods' have, and there are many others in the same position as I am. As for the purebloods, well, there are some, such as Cassia's father and godfather, who were against the slavery too- or James would have just handed Lily over to slavers in a heartbeat."

"Miss Granger is right," a voice said. They all turned, ready to fight, to see a goblin standing not far behind where Cassia was sat. "The late Lord Potter is one of a few who have always treated magical creatures with equality. His family have done so for centuries, with a few exceptions. It is why the Potter family is one of the most valued customers within Gringotts Bank, especially adding in the substantial fortune."

"Ragnok," Loki said, cautiously. "Why are you here?"

"Gringotts became aware of certain fraudulent activities towards the Potter accounts. We had just finished piecing together what's been happening when we registered the activation of a very large bond- and you can be sure the ministry in this country and in Britain will have registered it too, along with many others around the world, creature and magical human alike," he said. "And as I have already said, the Potters have been valued customers for centuries- I have handled the accounts for the last three generations, not counting Lady Cassia. So I came myself for two reasons, the first to congratulate you all on completing the bond- you'll need it. The second, to explain to the new head of the Potter estate about the meddling that has been taking place in her accounts."

"This headache's about to get bigger, isn't it?" Cassia groaned.

The goblin grinned. "It may be an idea to take a pain relief potion," he said.

"I will go get one," Loki sighed, before striding off to his room.

"He has pain relief potions?" Hermione asked.

Tony grinned. "We can get ourselves into quite the state sometimes," he shrugged as if he could care less.

"Someone has to have something," Jane said, "Pepper and I knew that much, so we got in what we could, non-magic wise, and Loki brought the rest."

"So, she's a Neko, what are you?" Tony asked.

Thor and Sif sighed, and Sif ran a hand over her eyes. "Well done, Anthony," she said, dryly.

"What?"

"Other Goblins would have killed you for that remark. As it is, if you are brash again I will not hesitate," Ragnok said.

"Try it," Natasha said. "I'm sure your brains would splatter at a gunshot wound, just as well as a humans would."

"Can we not threaten to kill each other? Apparently someone's been stealing from me, I want to know who and why," Cassia said. "And if this day can get any bloody stranger. My life's an unusual mess as it is." The last part was muttered, hardly heard by anyone but Hermione who smiled at her sympathetically.

Loki returned with the potion and handed it to her. She downed it in one, ignoring the awful taste, remembering the many potions Madam Pomfrey had given her over the years, which had tasted just as bad, if not worse.

"Well then, to business," Ragnok said, once Cassia had taken the potion and the headache began to ebb away. This day was about to get stranger- something she hadn't thought possible upon first awakening. The arrival of the goblin had very much turned that idea on its head.

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**A/N: Please Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 10

"The matter first came to our attention at the death of your godfather, Lord Black, whose will reading you did not attend. After some investigation, we found the missive that had been sent out to you, informing you of the reading had been intercepted before it could reach you, as had all other correspondence the bank sent out to you- and all by the same person. Albus Dumbledore has been claiming to be your magical guardian, and without the Potter Will, there was no one to dispute that."

"My parents have a will?"

"They did, but it strangely vanished before it could be read. No doubt, Dumbledore was behind this too. How else would he be able to move so effortlessly into the role of your guardian? Upon the discovery that you had received nothing from us, no statements and no requests for your opinion on financial matters, we were forced to begin an audit of your accounts- in fact, the entirety of your inheritance seemed unsafe after this. While you had heard nothing from us, we had been receiving permission from your legal guardian for money to be taken for reasons that now seem highly suspect. Charitable donations to an organization known as the Order of the Phoenix, a high monthly stipend paid to Dumbledore himself (far more than is normal for someone in the position of Magical Guardian for an orphan of a member of a Most Ancient and Noble House). There was also the high amount paid to your Aunt and Uncle to look after you, none of which appear to have been spent on you, if their own Bank Statements are correct. There are also payments that have been made to one Molly Weasley for taking care of you each summer, for the full summer, since the summer just before your second year of Hogwarts, even continuing this summer. Various other withdrawals from your trust account has also been made by Mrs Weasley and the _esteemed_ Headmaster," Ragnok said, passing over a sheet of parchment to her.

Cassia looked it over and noticed some things she knew Mrs Weasley had bought for her, such as school supplies before her fourth and fifth year, but the rest were things she had no knowledge of. They were various things for Molly herself, and her family, but which Weasleys were in the know on this? She saw half of the money Mrs. Weasley withdrew went into a vault under her name. Was that to keep it secret from others in the family? Were the rest of them in the dark on this? She hoped so.

She knew nothing about anything that Dumbledore was paying for. There were robes, trinkets, and holidays listed as what he had used the money for, even some being sent to other people's vaults, with apparently no reason.

"Who are the people that Dumbledore gave money to?"

"Various members of the Wizengamot. Most likely, they're bribes, used to help sway votes in Dumbledore's favour when passing one new law or another. He has also been voting in proxy for you, something we did not know until we began our investigation. He's been using your seat, as well as his and the Black family seat, to pass laws he likes. He may portray himself as someone who wants equality for all beings, but his actions in the Wizengamot show the lie for what it is. He helps uphold Pureblood Bigotry. Using your family seat he has even been able to pass laws to add more creatures to the list of those that can be enslaved, and keep Neko's on said list."

"You said he added some?" Cassia was feeling ill. He had used her family name to pass those laws?

"Most recently, the day before your birthday, the Wizengamot passed a new legislation act, one which stated that Mermaids, Unicorns and Werewolves were to be added to the list," the goblin looked tired. "Soon after, other countries started following suit. Soon, I fear, the whole world will take after them. More creatures means more business."

"Moony," Cassia breathed.

Hermione took her hand. "He'll be fine. Remus is smart, he'll have seen it coming and gotten out in time, you'll see."

"Aye, Mr Lupin saw it coming. He's hiding in Gringotts' London Branch currently. The Wizards wouldn't dare attack us, we have all their gold. We have a chokehold on them that keeps us safe at least."

"Thank you!" Cassia said, her whole body sagging with relief. The movement had the Avengers, Pepper and Jane wondering who this Remus Lupin was to have inspired such worry in the two youngest.

"Also, even though he has not yet become a target of the legislation, and neither has any others of his kind, Rubeus Hagrid has also been given sanctuary, in the rooms next to Mr Lupin. As for the money stolen, we have recovered it all, with interest, and have also frozen your two seats as of your seventeenth, informing the Wizengamot, and locked down all Potter and Black properties, as you are the heir to both families."

"Thank you," Cassia said, a bit stunned.

"Right, what can we do to make them really pay for this? I'm willing to help," Tony said.

"Hell yeah, count me in!" Clint said. He moved quickly from his spot and literally _perched_ on the back of the sofa, in-between the two young witches. It made all of them wonder if Hawkeye referred to more than just his eyesight. "If there are anyone you need taken out, I can do that."

"Unfortunately, you'd need to take out the majority of the Wizengamot to get anywhere. That would take time. Time you do not currently have," Ragnok said, as he handed over a ledger to Cassia, containing a full record of her fortune and properties.

"What do you mean?" Jane asked.

"Dumbledore cannot find Lady Potter right now. No one can. There are many within the Wizarding World itching to control her. The Potter name in itself holds large backing. Add in everything else, and Cassia Potter is seen as the key to opening a lot of doors- especially her fortune."

"Why the hell is all this happening to me? Isn't it a bit surreal? Even for the magical world?"

"Unfortunately, they seem to love working to the absurd," the goblin drawled. "Dumbledore recently suggested passing a law that would see all unmarried lords and ladies with property and money in the wizarding world married to someone the _esteemed _body of witches and wizards deems appropriate. No doubt he already has a suitor for you in mind. It would even bypass activated bonds, as you never said any vows-"

"Whoa wait a second- do you mean to say this bond thing means we're married?" Bruce asked incredulously.

"Normally activating the bond takes specific, informed and consented, actions, before it reaches the point we unintentionally reached today," Loki said. "We never thought it necessary to explain the ins and outs of the fully activated bond as we thought we would need to make conscious decisions- which would need all of us anyway- we were waiting to be brought together, all of us, to explain the whole thing. Our magic sped up the process all on its own, it seems."

"But yes, in the view of the other realms, and the magical world here, we are married. We had not the chance to fully explain that yet, as Loki said," Sif continued.

"However, the wizards are capable of ignoring this to do things that would favour them," Ragnok told them, anxious to continue. "They have taken the view that, unless you have married in the traditional, pureblood ceremony, then you will not be viewed as married to them, at least in Britain."

"Is the law going to pass?" Thor asked.

"By the looks of things, yes, even if Lady Cassia uses her two seats. I do have a suggestion."

"What?" Cassia asked. She could focus on the fact that she was technically married later. She had to get out of this situation first.

"They tried something like this before, years ago, and a Lord Greenwich decided to go to the current King of England for help, donating all his lands and money to the crown, only to have them restored to him under a muggle lordship that was equal to his position in the wizarding world. Since then, the British Monarchy has held a policy that should any Lord or Lady of the Wizarding World wish to do the same, and donate their wealth to the non-magical economy by moving it into a muggle bank, then they would do so for them."

"But, why tell me this? Wouldn't it be detrimental to Gringotts if I did this?"

"Yes, in the short term, but we could recover easily. The wizards however, would be gutted at losing such a prominent family. You hold stocks in many wizarding companies, and back a fair few too- many places would fall through- Wizarding Britain would start to, economically, decline."

"Basically, revenge for whatever the hell they've done to Cassia, plus some for all the other people they've hurt or killed?" Natasha asked.

"We goblins could recover, the wizards, not so much. We hate what the wizards have done to our fellow magical creatures. Let's get some form of revenge, eh, Lady Potter?"

Cassia decided then and there that she really liked this goblin. He was willing to take quite a loss, in order to ensure those who had hurt his people in the past, and others who were potentially allies to him in the present, were hurt in turn. This would place her squarely against all wizards, but after learning what she had about what they would do to her, what some had done to her, and the attack earlier, she was ready to rip them a new one in any way possible.

"Alright, how do I do this?" Cassia asked.

"If you write and sign a letter explaining the situation to the Queen and that you are donating your lands to the crown, I will ensure it reaches her, and only her. She will do the rest. I suggest that you supply her with a way of contacting you."

"Do you have an email account?" Tony asked.

"No," Cassia said, frowning. She had an idea about email, and new she needed a computer for it, but wasn't really sure about how to use it, or get an account.

"Right, start writing that letter, I'll set you up an account and you can put that in at the end," Tony said, picking up a thin metal square.

'_It's a StarkPad. A computer in even smaller form. There are quite a few different tablets out there, not just ones made by Stark Industries,'_ Hermione told her over the bond. Cassia looked at Hermione and smiled, not surprised she had figured out how to send her thoughts to Cassia that quickly. She was really grateful Hermione had been able to keep up with the Muggle World.

Loki's anger was simmering as he conjured paper and a pen and handed them to Cassia. They were taking this in such a way it demonstrated that both Hermione and Cassia were used to being in danger and being attacked. Both were only seventeen- far too young to be so used to such attacks. Even the earlier attack and attempted kidnapping had not really shaken them. Something had to be done about this. Their calm demeanour expressed an experience that only came with multiple threats- that they knew were still out there. Concentrating on the others, he got an affirmative that they would be doing all they could to remove these threats, and keep Cassia and Hermione out of any more danger, and Jane and Pepper both agreed to do what they could to keep them out of trouble while the threat was dealt with.

After Ragnok had left, it was time to consult the other issue at hand. "So, what's with this whole bond thing now?" Clint asked.

"Oh my parents are going to go nuts," Hermione groaned.

"It is only within the other realms and to those with magic who consider he bond a marriage," Loki pointed out. "Here within the non-magical society of Midgard we are not married. In fact, I believe it is illegal?"

Tony snorted. "The press would have a field day."

Cassia groaned. "The press. Not more Skeeters!"

"Skeeters? Is that a magical term?" Jane asked.

"Rita Skeeter is a reporter in Britain who is known for taking a few small facts and not only blowing them out of proportion but also adding complete falsities to them too. However, the general wizarding public eats it up, believing every word. The more scandalous the better. Cassia is one of her favourite subjects to write about."

"So are you," Cassia added to Hermione. "But I can't stand he vile woman. Or anyone like her."

"Don't worry, we're good at keeping our private lives just that- private," Pepper said. "There's a whole host of lawyers ready and waiting to handle any law suits needed- and they can probably tear shreds out of any lawyer a news firm could hire."

"No one knows we have each other's names on our wrists," Natasha said. "We can come up with a cover story for the three of you being here. People _will_ notice you're here, so we'll need something to give them to get them to back off, and satisfy their curiosity, but that's easily arranged."

"Possibly something close to the truth, we'll think of something, it doesn't have to be done right now," Bruce added.

"What about the bond though? How are we going to deal with it?" Cassia asked.

"We can keep out of each other's heads relatively easily it seems, and it's like Loki said, here we aren't married. I don't think right now there's anything to deal with," Tony said.

"He's right," Jane nodded. "And it'll help, especially if something like earlier happens again- it'll make it easier to find whoever's in trouble."

"Missions can get dangerous," Bruce agreed. "It would be good to be able to track each other down."

"Merlin knows we've gotten into our fair share of trouble over the years. It will be good knowing there's going to be the chance of help arriving before we get ourselves nearly killed- again." Hermione said.

"About that- we're going to need at least a good idea of all the threats you've faced, especially if there's a chance that they'll come after you again, like this Voldemort guy- and the one stealing from you. We need to know in order to be able to help," Clint said.

"You gave me a brief outline, but Clint is right, we need more," Bucky spoke up. "That sort of information isn't going to be enough in the long run."

"You can also rest assured that nothing you confide to us will be told to anyone else without your permission," Sif said. "You can trust us."

Cassia and Hermione exchanged a look. This was a lot to explain and it had been a part of their lives for so long it would be hard to explain to people who had not been there through it? But they both silently agreed it was necessary. "Alright," Cassia said, "I suppose it all started before Hermione and I were even born. A civil war had broken out in the British Wizarding community."

* * *

**A/N: Please Review!**


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